The Zanar Dynasty
by Darling Drusilla
Summary: One thousand years. Two thousand years. It doesn't seem to make any difference how long a secret is kept because someone will find it. The longer it stays a secret, the more dangerous it becomes. Yuna must discover what happened before Spira and Cloud must figure out what happened after Planet.
1. Chapter 1

Yuna sat in the ruins of the Zanarkand blitzball stadium staring at a sphere. It had all started with this, hadn't it? Not this sphere exactly, but a sphere nonetheless. Rikku had found a sphere with an image that might have been Tidus. One sphere had led to another, and another still until finally the spheres were second tier to the real problem. Not that it had stopped her from picking them up along the way. Every time she saw a sphere, no matter if it was related to Vagnagun or not, she gathered what she could and kept what she had no desire to sell. Then it was so much a habit that she' couldn't not pick up a sphere when she saw one. It was nearly an addiction that she well and truly valued in her life. A distraction from the mundane.

Her communicator buzzed on the stone seat beside her. Tidus was calling her. It seemed like he called her every five minutes. Never mind that they lived together, trapped in a single room hut on an island village or cooped up in an apartment in Luca. Yuna paused at her mental musings. Trapped? Did she really feel trapped in that hut? Only three years past she'd been delighted at the idea of living a normal life with a man who loved her. She also thought she'd be dead by the end of her pilgrimage. Dead and gone and Sin would come back in ten years time. Two years were spent mourning Tidus before she began the search. Mourning and wandering the village lost and without purpose and changing her very appearance. Two years of trying to find something she was good at and wanted to do. Then it came to her, clinging to a sphere Rikku had found.

She wasn't good at keeping house or cooking and she was absolute rubbish at weaving and pottery. Fishing and hunting were far from exciting and Blitzball, while fun, wasn't what she wanted in life. She wanted to explore. Explore and adventure and hunt for treasure and piece together the history of her world. The world she'd based so much of her life on and the foundation of her beliefs was something she'd lived for. That was the important part, wasn't it? Living.

Yuna looked down at the sphere in her hands once more.

It always starts with a sphere. This sphere, so ancient and decrepit that she'd wondered if it would even play. It had though. It had played and the foundations of her world, already shaking and newly built, crumbled once again. She considered chucking it out into the pool in the center of the stadium but such an act wouldn't erase what she'd seen or keep another sphere hunter from finding it. It wouldn't destroy the fact that those events Had happened...Yuna let out a shaking sigh. She couldn't do this alone. She couldn't make the choice to reveal this...This to anyone without help.

Her communicator stopped buzzing and Yuna picked it up before it could start again. She needed Dona and Issaru to help her with this. This was an issue for summoners because it concerned the Fayth.

~!~

"Thank you for meeting with me," she rose to greet her fellow summoners. She hadn't left the Zanarkand Ruins and she'd taken only four phone calls while she waited for the two in front of her now. A call from Rikku and uncle Cid, a call from Paine, and a call from Lulu.

"Dare I ask Why you've dragged us to this monkey infested pile of rubble?" Dona asked. Her clothes were showing proof that she'd taken up her rod once more and fought her way through to the stadium. However, they were less revealing this time around than they had been a year past. Her kimono was now covering her midsection where her child was growing while Barthello beamed proudly.

"I'm sure Lady Yuna wouldn't rouse us from our beds without reason, Lady Dona." Issaru was showing wear as well. Dirt and grime covered his formerly pristine robes, less in number now than they were before and shorter. They went no further than mid calf and his wide belt was slimmer, more like Auron's in size and function. He and Maroda been following the Kinderguardians if rumor held any truth at all. Protecting the little brother who'd been so dedicated to him before.

"It's about a sphere I've found." Yuna looked at the two summoners and their guardians. "I'm not entirely sure what to do about the information it contains. I'm not even sure I want to show it. In fact, I don't want to, but I have to."

She moved forward and set the sphere down upon the portable player.

~!~

The lab was clean and mild in temperature. Stark white walls were glaring in the fluorescent light and the cold steel beds stood out like sore thumbs. Men and women in white coats were milling about the room with clip boards and strange devices. One stood out more than the others, taller and obviously in charge of the situation. He wasn't an unattractive man. Quite the opposite in fact. Dark hair hung loose to his jawline, clean and healthy against fair skin and the barest dusting of stubble. He wasn't dressed like the others either. Something between a mage the the doctors surrounding him.

"Seventh, sixteen, ninty-three." He spoke. His voice was clear, highly educated, and resounding throughout the room. "Now beginning the process of aeon creation."

"FAYTH resin has been prepared Dr. Valentine," a young woman responded. She didn't look to unlike Lenne or Yuna herself. Dark brown hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, wrapped with a bright yellow ribbon to keep it in place. Blues and deep grays peeked out from beneath her lab coat and she nearly floated through the room.

"Thank you, Dr. Crescent. As we all know, these units won't be usable for some time. Likewise, if any volunteer wishes to retreat from the process, we will escort them to the exits without fuss."

The staff surrounding him made a sound of agreement before a young woman walked into the room. She was slender and blonde with a kind smile and excitement in her eyes. She walked up to Dr. Valentine and began to loosen the robe on her form. She was completely bare beneath the silk save for the thin chains of gold wrapped around her waist and hanging from her neck.

"Are you sure that's what you wish to wear into the FAYTH?" the doctor asked.

"Quite sure," she spoke. Her voice was enchanting.

"Very well. The creation of the Aeon will commence once you've stepped into the chamber." The doctor escorted her to a tall tube of greenish glass. "You have the deepest gratitude of the ShinRa Company for your contribution."

"I just want to live forever," the woman laughed. "What better way?"

She stepped into the chamber and the door was closed behind her. Thick goo poured down on her from above moments later and screams echoed throughout the room. Her body was changing, wings ripping from her back as the sluggish liquid destroyed her body. It was slow and quick all at once as the woman fell apart in the bottom of the chamber. Her remains began to float up to the top of the liquid and moments later, Valentine and three others cast a spell of some sort. Brilliant light flashed through the room as the spell was cast.

The sphere went dark for the briefest moments before showing the same room. The chamber was laying horizontal and two men were slicing the top of it off with a saw. The woman's body was showing, angelic wings covering her modesty while her mouth seemed to sing. A single hand rest against her throat as though it were trying to hold her voice in. There were no doctors inside of the room and the bright lights were dimmer now.

"Has the boss decided on a name for this one yet?" One of the men asked.

"Apparently he's torn between Siren and Lorelei. Bloody butcher he is..."

"Hey now, this is bein' recorded Ifrit. You don't watch your tone and you'll be thrown into the vat next."

"What would I do Gene?" Ifrit asked him. "He's already got one for each element. Honestly "

"For the Zodiac," Gene answered. "Not the elements. Lorelei isn't even in the zodiac he still turned his mistress into an Aeon, didn't he?"

~!~

Yuna sat down on the bleachers once more, noticing that Dona had taken a seat already. Issaru was leaning against a handrail and their guardians were in varying states of shock and awe. Barthello was sitting on the ground beside his wife's feet and Pace, poor child, was shaking at the edge of the steps. A a small puddle of bile rest by his feet where it hadn't gone all the way over the ledge.

"We can't let the rest of Spira know." Dona wiped her hands on her skirt and looked out across the broken down stadium. "We can't."

"Agreed," Issaru moved forward and took the sphere. "This can not see the light of day."

"We can't just leave it here either," Yuna shook her head. "Anyone might find it."

"The temples." Barthello's voice echoed out. "We can take them to the temples, or toss them out into the farplane."

"That won't work," Issaru shook his head. "One of the girls in Macalania tried and it ended up on display for the whole town to see."

"We can't just destroy them either," Yuna sighed. The others looked at her with shock. "You know there's more out there. This was the record of one, there's enough for each zodiac, so at least twelve more."

"At least."

They sat there a while longer, each wondering what they could do. They couldn't hide this for long if they didn't track the spheres down. For Yuna that meant traveling alone. Rikku would demand her people know and Paine would tell Nooj everything. The whole thing would be catastrophic at it's mildest if he found out. The war between New Yevon and the Youth League would start up again and not even the Machine Faction would stay neutral. Not unless Rikku ordered them to back out. Which she wouldn't if it meant the AlBhed people had a chance at reclaiming some part of Spira for themselves.

"I'll hide them." Dona stood shakily. "There's a small island off of Kilika, it's considered taboo to set foot upon it." Barthello nodded in agreement with her. "If you ever need to rest we will house you. Kilika has some of the more in depth records outside of Bevelle Temple. I'll look into those as well."

"I've fallen out of favor with Bevelle," Issaru admitted. "I'd be no use in researching. But I have explored Zanarkand more than most. I could help you here." Maroda nodded in agreement while Pacce shook his head to the negative. "Pacce, I wouldn't ask you to resume your guardian duties if you didn't want to."

"I could use some help around the house," Dona came over. "The child will come in perhaps four months and Barthello is wanting when it comes to house work."

This made things easier for Issaru and Maroda, she knew. It made things easier for her as well. She didn't have to carry the burden alone now. She didn't have to dig alone through endless piles of ancient writings and texts for answers to questions she couldn't find. It wasn't her choice alone to hide this from the people. At least for now. Once everything had been settled and figured out, Yuna would bring the idea up again. If it wasn't too horrible. She felt bad enough that Pacce was to be forever scarred by this.

They were all scarred by this.

"Lady Yuna." Maroda was coming over to her. Pacce was holding tight to Barthello's hand while Dona walked in front of them and Issaru was staring off into the distance. "I was wondering if you could tell us where you found the sphere."

Yuna nodded and rose from her place. She'd found the sphere deep in the more residential areas of Zanarkand. She assumed they were residential at least. Given the contents of the film they could have been anything. She led Issaru and Maroda out of the stadium and off towards the western half of the city.

"If you don't mind my asking, why were you here Lady Yuna?"

"I needed some time to think," she answered Issaru. "I know, it's hypocritical of me to come here after everything I said before."

"Not at all Lady Yuna. If anyone has the right to be here, it's you."

"I was wondering what to do. So much of my life, of all our lives, was based on coming here. I couldn't think of a better place to think about the beginning than the end." Yuna made a right along the road, towards Abelar Court and down hill from the stadium. The fiends around here weren't so aggressive as the ones closer to the temple. "I was going through the houses, studying their lives in hopes of finding some sort of sign for myself."

Yuna headed towards the manor at the end of the road and drew her gun. The streets were free of monsters, but that house always seemed to have something in it. Something was always popping out of a closet or out from under the floor boards. She hadn't been strong enough to go deeper into the manor before, but with help she might be able to this time around. Maroda and Issaru both had their weapons out; She was happy that Issaru had taken a gun for himself, even if he did still have his rod as a primary weapon.

"Lady Yuna, can I ask you something?" Issaru was watching as Maroda pushed the front door open. The Guardian had insisted upon taking up his mantle this one last time.

"Of course." She raised her gun as Maroda moved forward into the front room of the manor.

"Do you still practice with your staff?" Issaru's robes had been hiked up to reveal the pants he wore beneath. Wide legged and calf length, they made it easier for him to move, just as Yuna's old skirt had worked better with high slits on either side.

"Sometimes," Yuna admitted. "Though not as often as I once did. It's easier to use a gun, a bit safer too, but I find that it's easier to separate myself from the title of High Summoner. I can just be Yuna."

"Perhaps we can just be fighting for our lives?" Maroda suggested.

A large creature was staring down at them from the ceiling, clinging to the chandelier's remains as it swayed to and fro. None of those in the room had seen anything like it in all of their travels. Considering how far some had travelled this was quite something. The creature dropped from it's place, claws flashing in the dim light as it slashed at them. It looked half man, half axe, and entirely too mean. Luckily most things died if you shot them in the head. This creature was no exception. The three moved closer to it, trying to figure out what it could be.

"Perhaps its something from days past," Issaru suggested. "I never deviated from the stadium, and the AlBhed who tried to explore often had to be lifted out. You are certainly something, Lady Yuna."

"I've been terrified to come in here alone," Yuna laughed. Her laugh turned into a smile, mischievous and full of adventure. "Shall we keep going?"

They did. Though they didn't have to go very far to find an office of sorts. An office, or a study room, possibly a library, it was all used for the same purpose in the end. There were a few loose papers floating around, the top-most faded by time while the ones beneath were filled with equations and notations. It wasn't until Maroda tried to pull a book from the shelf that they found anything useful. A sphere began to roll out from behind the book and Maroda had to rush to catch the artifact. The book split when it hit the carpet, cut up pages fluttered out while a chunk of iron fell from what remained of the book.

"Way to go Maroda," Issaru teased as he picked the book up. "You destroyed the best part of the series."

Issaru held the cover up for them to see and Yuna couldn't control the giggles that erupted. Maroda groaned in disgust before she started quoting lines from the 'novel'. It was almost sad that one of the stories to survive through the centuries was such a terrible one. 'Loveless' was something all children had to learn in school, usually around age fourteen, and it was by far the most dreaded assignment anyone had ever thought up. Technically it was the synopsis of a six volume series you ended up reading throughout the rest of your schooling; sadly it was the best written part of the series.

"That's not even a real sentence!" Maroda ended up shouting at the summoners. "It's like saying there's a best part of hell."

"It's an example of the most ancient and revered literature," Yuna gasped in mock horror.

"It's terrible," Issaru tossed the cover aside. "Perhaps we should see if the sphere my brother found is more put together."

"If it even plays," Maroda set the sphere on the desk. He looked around for some sort of player before finding something truly archaic. "Lady Yuna, did you bring your player by any chance?"

"I did," Yuna brought the player forth. She unfolded the wire frame and set it upon the sphere before adjusting the settings before hitting play.

 _The room filled with the images it had recorded centuries ago. They were back in the lab, watching as a different aeon was set onto a gurney and wheeled out by the same doctors as before. The party moved forward, still recorded by something steadier than a human hand that adjusted it's angle as they moved, floating above or further back or zooming in so close that the female doctor waved it away in annoyance. The corridor they were in now was clean steel, without decoration or color, it felt lifeless and cold compared to the halls every summoner had grown up in. Silent and stern faced they continued until they reached a set of doors. The doors slid open with a cold hiss and they wheeled through into the much smaller room just beyond. It wasn't an elevator, but it was a conveyance of some sort._

 _The screen flickered and suddenly they were on a veranda, the aeon being inspected by a man in an abundance of silks and jewels. The king they'd mentioned in the first sphere was standing before them now. He was old and frail, shaking in the breeze that came in off of the ocean behind him. The two doctors were off to the side, the man sitting at a small table with a cup of something in his hands. He looked older now, too tired of doing the experiments he'd been ordered to do. The woman looked entirely disinterested in the whole thing. Both were dressed differently now. More modestly and with less color in their lives._

" _Very good, very good," the frail old king hummed. "Was this...who was this?"_

" _Your son," the woman replied. She still had zero interest in the situation. "Balerion, he decided to lead a coup, if you'll recall."_

" _I recall," the old king waved his hand. "Always something of a devil child, that one. Takes after his mother...where is she again?"_

" _You had your fourth wife consecrated three weeks ago," the woman spoke again. "She's joined her sisters in Remora, in their temple."_

" _Mm, that's right. I'm on my..."_

" _Sixth wife," the male doctor finally spoke up. "Your sixth wife, and you have only one heir left, your grandson, Ar-Pharazȏn. Your brothers didn't survive conversion and your only daughter has fled to Virgon Temple. King Zanar, you must stop converting so many at once, the system can't handle it and the people are preparing to rebel."_

The video cut out leaving two summoners and a guardian very worried for Doctor Valentine. He was long dead, they all three knew this, but it was the way he died they were concerned for. Did he escape the obviously mad king's wrath, or had he become that which he'd created and come to hate?

"If we find the laboratory, we could probably find a way to get to the palace where the king was." Maroda was leaning against the remains or a chair. "If we found the Lab, we could probably find a map to tell us where everything was."

"It might be down in the basement," Yuna suggested. "It's a rather large house, and I saw a stairway leading down when we came in."

"Perhaps..." Issaru began to kick through the pages that were scattered on the floor, looking for the iron piece that had fallen from the book. "Ah-ha, a strange key, but a key none the less."

It was rather strange. Were it not for the odd teeth along one side it would have been a perfect square and completely ignorable. The three of them had however noticed that Dr. Valentine had used such a square to get from one place to another. Issaru pocketed the item within the many folds of his robes and the trio set off after setting their newly found sphere in Yuna's bag. ShinRa had developed a method for storing spheres that functioned much like an egg carton, but shrank the sphere down to a size much smaller than normal. No bigger than a large marble, they rest within the padded conveyance, allowing Yuna and the others to fight off the fiends waiting down in the basement.

There were many. Stronger than the Axe-man in the front room or the canids that had been roaming the halls, these were a sort of Chimera. Smaller than the ones they were used to but quicker and far more aggressive than the lumbering beasts of Macalania Forest. It took the three of them much longer than they expected to defeat the Minimera -as Yuna called it- and when Maroda called for a short break to heal up none of them argued. The basement was dark and dank, the walls covered in rust and muck. Yuna was afraid of what it might be made up from; splatters of the rust colored stains were answer enough in themselves. Still they pressed on, spells at the ready and weapons in hand.

The laboratory doors must have been cut through by something, because they had been sealed tight at the top and bottom and a ring of rough and blackened steel was the only way in. It was wide enough for Yuna and Maroda to both walk through into the dark room. Their flashlights weren't strong enough to penetrate the darkness completely but after some fiddling around they managed to get something to turn on and brighten the room. Not too bright or they would have seen an entire wall painted with the ancient bloodstains. all they saw was the pile of decrepit human shapes laying at the bottom. King Zanar's men or those of his opposers? Yuna couldn't say. Instead, she sought out the door at the back of the lab and ignored the endless cages and capsules lining the walls. Each had it's own lump of blackened flesh inside, save one. This one was missing both capsule and the machine it had been hooked up to.

"Lady Yuna," Maroda waved her over. He and Issaru were standing by the door at the far back of the too large room. She went over to them, pausing slightly when the air shifted around her. Turning back to the far wall she reached for her guns and began running to where the others were.

"Hurry," she called before turning to the now shifting bodies. One of them broke free and hissed, nothing more than a skeleton held together by black skin and twisted pyreflies. It was followed by three others, all as dark and wicked as the first. They were moving fast and Issaru was having trouble getting the key into the slot.

Yuna fired three shots into the nearest one, missing it's head the first time before hitting it in the neck and sending it's head flying. Maroda was not so lucky in his attacks, for the boney creatures were fast despite their age. When Yuna shot the head from the last one, Issaru shouted in success; a lucky thing as three more were crawling from the pile and two smaller ones slumping out of their cages. She couldn't run through just yet though. One of the Boneys had dropped a sphere and she Needed to grab it before they left. Yuna's finger curled around the sphere just before a skeleton hand grabbed her. The fiend's head erupted into a cloud of dust and shards above her and a rough hand was pulling her backwards. Issaru was shooting with her while his staff held the door open.

"Hurry," Maroda called to her. Issaru was shooting over Yuna's shoulder as she dashed through the small gap. Issaru jerked his weapon from between the doors and they slammed shut on one of the faster creatures. A boney canid was trying to claw it's way towards them, jaws snapping until Yuna shot it into a cloud of pyreflies.

"I worry for what we shall find next," Issaru leaned against a wall. They were in the small compartment from the sphere and it was awaiting command. Even though he worried, the summoner looked at the panel of buttons and pressed the one with an elaborate seal. The conveyance didn't move. Her pressed it again, and again, and just as the other two began to truly worry, he remembered his iron key and pressed it into the panel. He hit the Seal Button again and they were moving.

"Ever on," Maroda adjusted his grip on the sword. The transport was actually pretty roomy. "Are we in an elevator?"

"Uhm...I don't think so," Yuna shook her head. "Why?"

"I just wondered if it could be called an elevator if it moved from side to side." Maroda had started leaning against the wall, but faint light could be seen on the other side, so now he was trying to peer through the once window.

"I feel like we might be going down," Issaru said. He was standing where the gurney had been. There was a faint ring of energy on the floor; an imprint of what had once been there. "Not dramatically, but certainly down."

The ride was turning out to be a long one. In fact, they were speeding up just a bit before remaining at a steady pace. It gave them time to discuss the particulars of Elevators and moving sidewalks. It gave Issaru just a bit more time to keep on about Yuna's lack of practice with a staff. She still practiced almost every day thank you very much!

"I simply don't believe it," Issaru smiled. "Never, did we ever fight staff to staff."

"And never did you win a single fight between the two of us," Yuna countered. "You and I were both trained in our staves from childhood. There's no way either of us could forget to use the staff as a weapon."

They agreed to fight once more when the breeched the surface and returned home. For now there was wok to be done. Foes to fell. Secrets to keep.

The car slowed and burst forth from the darkness to zoom along a rail hundreds of feet up from the cliffs and jungles below. Curving around and revealing dingy and grime covered walls to be made entirely of glass and hardly protective against the foes they'd left behind. Not that it mattered now. Now there was the beauty of a city long forgotten and the palace they raced towards wth every minute. When they finally stopped it was at the highes point of the still noble tower. The tower was dirty and crumbling in certain places, but there was no mistaking it for the self same in the sphere they'd watched before. The balcony where Yuna wandered had been paced by the same mad king Zanar.

"Lady Yuna," Issaru called her away from the ledge.

"What did you find?" She asked. Maroda was still wandering around the room, broadsword drawn and eyes open.

"A madman's ramblings at first," Issaru handed her a diary. "But also this."

A map. Not a big map, in fact it seemed to be a map of the palace itself, but the bright red trail leading through it had ben scribbled in by a child, not a mad king. It went around this room, in and out of others, twisting and backtracking until finally it found it's mark.

"Do you think we should follow the map, or head straight for the treasure?" Issaru asked. His staff was out and he looked quite ready to use it.

"Let's follow the map. We'll be able to explore the area a bit more, and it would be some well deserved fun after the laboratory."

"Our ideas of fun are very different," Issaru smiled at her. He called to Maroda but the lone guardian didn't come over. His head hardly even moved. The summoners glanced at one another before hurrying over to see what had transfixed him so.

He stood before a fallen painting, half destroyed by sun and exposure, the other half covered in layer of grit and mold. No matter how damaged they could still see the faces staring out at them. The image of King Zanar sitting upon his throne. Powerful and with only the slightest hint of madness while his sons stood on either side of him. One behind each shoulder, grown and proud, and the youngest standing by his knees. A woman without a face sat on his right, only the lightest hint of her hand and her bright red dress remaining after a thousand years. The face that looked out at her wasn't one she'd seen before, but those eyes were. The eyes of Yunalesca. The first high summoner, her namesake. Her ancestor.

"Bevelle saw the opportunity to attack and took it." Maroda was still staring at the man in the painting. "They must have found out about his instability, about the rebellions starting, that's how the hundred year war between Bevelle and Zanarkand started."

"A hundred year war. The aeons he created were used to fight against them. And in the end it took Sin."

Yuna understood now why Maroda had ben staring at the painting for so long. This was the entire reason for their existence.

"We've decided to follow a child's map and explore the palace further," Issaru spoke up. "With luck, we can find a hospitable room to camp out in." He smiled at the two of them. "I may have caught a slight bug for exploring tombs while following Pacce."

"I'm in no rush to go back through the labs either," Maroda laughed. If either man noticed Yuna's silence they didn't mention it. Neither had come face to face with Yunalesca so they couldn't well see the relation between Zanar and the woman. But certainly they had read the records...no. There was no record of Zanar in Bevelle. Any that existed would be hidden away or buried beneath centuries of more banal information. This secret would remain between summoners until the day they died, or until the aeons withered away once more.

She shook it from her mind as they wandered through the palace. Yadanoki Tower and this place were very similar. The colors and the vaulted ceilings were one and the same and the windows, what remained of them, carried the same blue green glass. The map led them into what could have been a nursery once upon a time. Elaborately crafted cradles remained standing though covered in rust, priceless gemstones glinting in the afternoon sun. Little stone figurines had been left on the shelves, knocked over or broken.

"Where does our scribbled path lead us?" Issaru asked her.

"Oh, it takes us..." Yuna trailed off and went to the corner of the room where the map instructed them to go. Resting in a small nook was a very strange little doll that reminded Yuna of the al Bhed and one of Rikku's old toys. A paddle doll.

"Should we take her with us?" Maroda asked.

"I think so," Yuna nodded. She picked up the doll very gently, marveling at the small differences between this and the one her cousin owned. This was a work of art. Gold plated and embossed with hundreds of little images and colorful lacquer. The room held no other wonders within, only the wistful memory of a happy childhood.

The next room was back the way they'd come, past the King's office and into what appeared to be a little storage room. To the library after that and digging past great tomes they'd read when time wasn't so dreadfully short. Perhaps this room should be their camp. When she suggested it to the boys they agreed. It was easily defendable and held many things to occupy their time. Not a single a pyrefly floated within nor was there any moisture or mold to cause them discomfort. Careful to arrange a marker and start setting up camp, the trio moved on to the next room. Then to the next doll. Each was becoming more defined, more in tune with water and the oceans which ruled so much of Spiran life. Finally, after visiting the King's office for a second time, they were led into a large courtyard with a clear pool in it's center.

"Why do I feel like we're about to fight something?" Maroda asked. He'd readied his sword and Issaru had loosed his rod and a small pistol Yuna hadn't seen before. Apparently he'd seen the logic too.

"Because our journey has been too peaceful." Yuna walked closer to the edge of the pool where the map had claimed the treasure lay.

Her reflecion stare back at her. Features crystal clear and two perfect blue eyes staring back.

"Get back!" Yuna cried as she jumped away from the rising copy. The brown locks turned golden as she rose from the pool. King Zanar's mistress stood before them with two perfect golden wings erupting from her shoulders. The smile on her face was unnaturally pleasant and the light in her eyes was excited. Excitement over other living creatures or something to fight one couldn't say. Not until she lunged forward with claws extended. Her target was Yuna and though Maroda attempted to block the lunge, he could do no more than strike at the woman as Yuna's twin pistols erupted. She bounded back from them and gave all three an even look as golden locks fell short of covering her breasts.

Her mouth opened and a sound came forth. Sharp and grating to Yuna's senses, as though steel were screaming in the heat of a forge and some great machine were about to explode. it caused Issaru to clutch his staff and bend double as he undoubtedly heard the same sound. Maroda did not have sch a reaction. He turned away from the woman and raised his sword against Yuna and Issaru. The siren backed away and sit delicately on the edge of the pool, smiling at the blood about to spill.

"He is a better fighter than I," Issaru leapt back from his brother's blade.

The High summoner switched quickly into the Warrior dressphere, fighting the inkling and remnants of memory that came with the change, and quickly stepped between Maroda and Issaru.

"Take her out," Yuna called to the eldest. Maroda wasn't fighting as well as some of those she'd encountered, but his beserk nature had made him stronger. It also made him more reckless and less adept at catching obvious traps. As Issaru got closer to and egan fighting with the Siren his brother began to pay even less attention to Yuna, choosing instead to try and push past her in order to save the blonde. When he'd pushed past Yuna and exposed his back, the high summoner took a note from a friend and lammed the hilt of her sword into the back of Maroda's neck. He crumpled to the ground and the Siren let out another shriek as Issaru dominated their fight.

She fell to one knee and snarled at Issaru before transforming into a bright blue gem and hhovering midair.

"She's all yours," Yuna gestured for Issaru to take it. The man did and the pact between aeon and summoner was complete. "She was tougher than my first aeon."

"I have no doubt in my mind that many men were unable to conquer her." Issaru turned the gem over in his hands. "Unlucky for her. I am not so easily swayed by a lovely young woman."

"Baralai is single again," Yuna teased. "I know you've always liked him."

"Liked to look. He's far from what I seek in a partner." The two summoners bent to collect Maroda and dragged him back to the library. Night was falling and they needed to bunk down in case things got messy. Although...Before they moved to far out of the garden, Yuna spotted another strange paddle doll. Like the others, it was pointing in the direction of the next room. They would see about it tomorrow.

The night passed easily if one ignored Maroda's complaints about being knocked unconscious and the lack of a real fire to warm themselves by. There was no need for a fire, neither for light nor warmth. The palace was balmy and pleasant even in the darkest of night. A darkness that did not fall for the large crystals in the ceiling had absorbed the light of the day and shone gently down upon the travelers. It seemed an eternal twilight as they took turns at watch. Not until the fingers of dawn began to creep slowly across the sky and through the great pillars of stone did they realize time had moved at all.

Yuna was ready to investigate the remaining doll right away. So much so that she nearly pushed the other two into action the moment their eyes opened.

"Lady Yuna, were this any other place I would tell you to go, that we would catch up," Issaru stopped her from pacing through the library. "It is hardly morning and we are tired from yesterday's battles. Sit. Eat something. Whatever it is has waited over a thousand years, a few more minutes will not hurt."

Yuna waited, but she did not sit down. Instead she began to flip through the pages of a book left unshelved. A choice she came to regret as she read through it's leaves. It told of every single aeon made by the mad king in his attempt to rule the Spiral. He would be better than his ancestors and the tombs of heroes would tremble. His scientists an aeons would surely prove more useful than the preserved flesh of the Last Hope.

 _The one in my office is the most damning of all. His eyes remaing ever closed. Ever oblivious of my great power. He'll remain in slumber for all eternity, useless, cold,a mere memory of days long past._

Yuna thought back to how the doll had been pointing. Back tot he mad King's office. The hgih summoner paid no mind to the other two and their meal. She went directly the the king's room and began searching for the slumbering hero. All around the room she looked. Beside the fireplace, the desk, investigating every pillar between herself and the bolcony. Under rugs and on the ceiling. Nothing. Yuna scowled at the closed door that brought them here and almost kicked at the painting of the king and his family.

It was such a large painting. Why would he keep something so large and damning in his sight? Hadn't he killed every one of them? Dd he feel no guilt to look at them every day, staring down with such disinterest and oblivious to his insanity? She blinked at it before moving closer. It was the only item in the room that hadn't fallen or tilted. The only one encrusted with gems and golden sigils.

"The dolls." Yuna looked over the painting and noted that each member of the family wore the same doll shaped brooch at their neck, even the now faded queen. Little golden idols that could be turned before clicking back into place afte a few seconds passed.

"Lady Yuna," Issaru chided as he and Maroda came intot he room. "What are you doing?"

"Where's the map?" Yuna asked him in return. "I have an idea."

Each room on the map corresponded with the brooch of each family member. Fluttering through her memory to how each doll had been placed and the postion of each, her hands flew across the puzzle. Finally she turned the queen's. A loud click and the grinding of gears sounded through the room and Yuna felt excitement pulsing through her veins. Be it another battle, a sickening secret, or merely a treasure, she was ready.

The room's interior was lit with the same crystals as had been in the library though these grew brighter with every ounce of sunlight that came in from the outside. Finally the room behind the painting seemed to be as bright as the calm land fields in summer. At the very end of the room was a large glass tank. It was not grimey. It was not cracked or broken. It was filled with some green liquid and a black figure that pulled at Yuna to come closer. Almost as if a spell had been cast. Yuna walked towards it with purpose, ignoring her companions as they warned her and let out small oaths to see a man flosting inside of the solution.

A small word was blinking on the steel beneath the tank. Release. Yuna slammed the heel of her palm down onto the button and stepped back when the tank began to drain.

"Lady Yuna, you have gotten us into more trouble in the last two days than you have in the last two years," Maroda scolded as he took a step forward. His sword glinted in the strange light and she could hear Issaru cock his little pistol. Yuna ignored it and went up to the tank, pulling on the small handle at the side to free the man within. There was still liquid pooling around his feet and though it had been many years since he'd seen another human, she culdn't leave him to sit in the wet and the cold.

The remaining liquid spilled out across the console and her shoes as she climbed up to kneel beside the man. Bright blonde hair was plastered against his head, though it was beginning to stick in all directions. His black vest and pants were sopping and heavy against a well muscled form.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly. She didn't dare touch him. Not yet. "We found you in here and decided to free you."

"You found him and _you_ decided to free him." Maroda's voice wasn't pleased.

"I suppose that's true," she tried not to laugh. She bent slightly to see the man's face. "Can you understand me?" The man let out an affirmative sound. "You've been here for a while. Do you need help standing?"

There were a few more sounds as the man pushed himself to kneeling. His arms were shaking lightly and he was leaning heavily to one side. Yuna offered him her hand and set one foot firmly back onto the consoles beneath. He couldn't take her hand without tilting dangerously and when she placed her hand over his, he did not fight it.

"Here we go," she whispered to him calmly. "Let's try to sit upright. Hm?"

He was heavier than she imagined but after a moment of his shaking weight and her own sheer willpower he was leaning with his back against the tank. Dear aeons, he was handsome. An aquiline nose rest over a very tempting mouth and for the barest second Yuna wondered if it was okay to feel such a thing for a man barely awake and aware of his surroundings. If it was okay to feel something when her own relationship had just barely ended and they were still dividing possessions. Then his eyes opened and she'd never been so transfixed before.

Cloud opened his eyes to find two staring back at him in compelte wonder. Two different eyes in the same face. It was her voice that had been in his ears as the fog lifted. A fog that replayed events he'd never experienced and memories he couldn't forget. People and faces, friends and strangers going around on loop until gravity returned and he found himself waking to the sound of her voice. A woman who'd decided to free him from his prison.

"Lady Yuna, shall I ask Siren if you've been charmed?" A man's voice asked from behind her. The one in blue.

"Oh hush," Yuna turned to scowl at him. Then her attention was back to Cloud and he felt thankful for it. "My name is Yuna, that's Issaru and his brother Maroda. We're...well, I odn't really know what we are anymore."

"Guardians of Spira," the other man offered. Maroda.

"I suppose so," Yuna nodded. She extended her hand once more and the feel of her skin on his was welcome. He'd not touched another human since...he couldn't remember. He had only memories of being with others. Not of when he'd last seen them or of when he'd been awake. "When you're ready, we can move forward."

Time would move forward no matter what he did. No matter where he was. She was waiting for him though. She was pushing him to sit up and wake up because the world was still here. He'd done his duty and the world was still here. The title of hero was his and the new peace he'd fought for was just at the other end of the hall.

"Cloud." His tongue felt heavy in his mouth and his mouth too full of saliva. Her attention became even more focused and the men behind her held their weapons even more firmly. "My name, is Cloud."

"He's one of the ancient people," Maroda said as Yuna helped Cloud to moved. "Who knows how many centuries he's been in there."

"Centuries?" Cloud asked slowly. His speech stumbled and stuttered out of a mouth long unused. "How?"

"We don't know either," Yuna apologized to the man. "We only found this place yesterday. Careful, it's a slope."

The man was careful as he slid across the floor of the chamber, pausing for a moment to pull a needle from his arm before pushing his legs over the edge and down to the console Yuna stood on. His grip on her hand was firm after too many years; he would have left bruises were he holding so tight at his full strength. Even so, she held onto his hand and wrapped her arm around his shoulders as they climbed down. Issaru and Maroda were down on the floor, the elder taking Cloud's other hand and guiding him forward. When Yuna fell under Cloud's full weight, Maroda took her place.

"Perhaps a cure, or haste will aide us my lady," Maroda suggested.

"Or harm," Yuna shook her head. "I can't believe that he'd have been kept in something harmful." She paused as they began to escape the now darkening room. "Then again, I hadn't believed such madness might be real."

"We'll settle down in the garden. Some sun will help him, just as it helps everyone." Issaru's word's made the final choice for them. "Siren insists she was the only living creature in the palace."

"Really? Because this guy looks a little bit alive."

"She couldn't sense him," Issaru defended. "Apparently she has a sixth sense about males hanging about."

"Perfect match then," Maroda smiled. "Alright. If this place is so empty, maybe we can set up something more than just a base camp. Maybe even find a place to get an airlift out." He caught Cloud when the man stumbled. "I dunno about you, but I'm not going to that lab again."

"Lab?" Cloud gasped out. He stumbled yet again, this time aggressive or ready to run.

"It's okay," Yuna turned and moved towards him. The boys were fighting to hold him still. "Cloud, it's okay. It's empty. Only the undead are there. It's okay." Yuna waved the boys off, taking Cloud's weight and helping him to stay upright. "Cloud, look at me. It's alright. We're not going to any labs or dealing with any madmen. They're dead now." She waited until his bright blue eyes focused on her. Until he processed her words. "I promise. No labs. No madmen."

He calmed and forced himself to stand upright. He wasn't very tall compared to Yuna, but enough that she could rest her head upon his shoulder. Taller than Tidus for sure. Keeping her arm under him and holding his hand as she'd done before, they walked slowly towards the garden. Maroda shut the secret room off and Issaru went to see about any heroes in the library. Perhaps there was some record or clue about Cloud in there.

Maroda took a bit more convincing to leave them be. He was a guardian and his duty was to protect a summoner.

"Then Cloud will be my guardian," Yuna scowled. The blonde was seated upon the desolate seat of the mad king, sunlight flickering in from the balcony as he built up his strength for another trek through the palace. "Go and serve your summoner. After all, he has an aeon again and I do not."

Maroda was about to argue but his brother's exclamation drew him away. It was an excited sound, not a panicked one, and even if it had benn, Yuna would not leave the injured man behind her alone. She would search through this room and leave the brothers to their own hunt.

"If I were absolutly insane and turning my family into summons, where would I put my diary?"

"In a hidden drawer." Cloud's voice answered her silent question and she turned to see he was watching her. His eyes were glowing. Motorcycle blue and focused on her with far more awareness than he'd had only moments before. "Whenever we had to find Hojo's things, there was always a hidden drawer, or hidden safe."

"Alright," Yuna nodded. "The last time I encountered someone so cruel he was less secretive about...well. He just didn't care." She began looking over the mantle of the fireplace, searching for any oddities or crannies in which one might hide something. She did find many did things; coins, little children's trinkets, even a sphere. Whenever she turned away from one place to look in another, she could see Cloud turning papers over on the desk or opening drawers. He had placed the trinkets he found in the same pile she'd placed hers.

"found something."

It was a statement spoken in stereo and each looked interested in what the other found. She hurried back to his side and he leaned forward to open the book he'd found. The first page seemed to pick up from another book, and when Yuna opened hers she discovered it was the beginning. Yuna was far more excited about the puzzle than Cloud was and sat on the edge of the desk to look at the two articles side by side.

"So paranoid he wrote everything in two books," Cloud frowned. "I don't know what it says though. I can only make out a little bit."

"Oh, I suppose time would make a difference. It's written in High Zanarkand, a language only a few people can really read these days." Yuna read through the first paragraph, eyes flitting from the first page over to the second so she might complete her sentences. "He's excited to have taken the throne from his brother Zanar the seventh. He's just changed his name from Titus." She leaned back for a moment. "It goes on, his wife might be barren. The war with Wu is coming to an end. The north eastern continent has finally sunk into the ocean." She flipped through a few more pages until she found what she was looking for. "Here, 'the Keys of Heroes were given unto me by the Record Keeper Tyro. Claimed in sleep by Acolytes, these warriors are the weapon that will keep our realm from falling into discourse. The Golden is to remain by my side always, Tryo claims. He showed the Golden to me after coronation, claiming he would keep any harm from befalling the king. If such words are true, how then was I able to dispose of my brother?'" Yuna's lips pursed as she flipped to the next pages. "What a horrible man. Oh! It's a picture of you." She turned the two books to show cloud a detailed sketch of himself suspended in the tube that had once held him. All around the base were figures in robes, checking macchina and prayer before him.

"Kidnapped while I was in bed," Cloud scowled at it. For a moment she thought he might strike it away from him as Tidus had done so many times in the past. He merely turned his head and looked out across the verdant jungles below. "I never thanked you for waking me up."

"I wonder if leaving you asleep may have been kinder."

"No. I'm glad to be awake. Now I can figure out what happened to me and my friends."

Yuna tried to keep her smile up. She could only imagine what it would be like to leave your entire life behind. "My old love encountered much the same when he came here. He wasn't kept in sleep though. He was a dream of the aeons made flesh. Except now he's different."

"What was his name?" Cloud asked from his seat. He was leaning to his left, and attempting to toe his sodden boots off.

"Tidus." She knew he'd stopped to look up at her. "I know they saw his face in the sphere. In the painting. They havent' said anythign yet but if we go back and Tidus begins to act strangely they Issaru and Maroda may try to do something about it."

"You don't want that to happen." Cloud's skin was looking healthier and his hir was dry now. Feathering into a hundred directions and swaying in the breeze.

"Issaru and Maroda, their brother Pacce, fellow summoner Dona and her husband Barthello are the only people who know of this journey. My guardians have no idea where I am, or what I'm doing. If I'd shown them the sphere then the world would be back at war, but I can't simply let this lie undisturbed. Not when so much suffering will happen."

"Tell me the secret you're talking about. If I'm supposed to be your guardian, like Maroda and Barthello, then I should know too."

Yuna hadn't expected him to use that but sharing the responsibility made this easier. Knowing that someone besides the last two summoners and their guardians was there to help made the burden of such a dreadful secret no longer hers alone.

"Sounds like Shinra," Cloud scowled as the tale wound to a close.

"My cousin has nothing to do with this," Yuna shook her head. "The clan has only just begun to have a voice in the senate." Cloud gave her a curious look and she realized the error. "You mean a different Shinra."

"ShinRa electric company used to experiment on people in order to keep their power. They kept secrets and nearly destroyed the world because of those secrets. I can remember always finding something else they'd left behind." Cloud looked down at the diaries on the table and the sketch of himself surrounded by acolytes. "I understand why you've kept this a secret from the rest of the world. It's not something you can easily share."

"Spira has long held a blief system. One group's problems are taken care of by that group. It's begun to break down in recent years but," Yuna shook her head. "Summoners should take care of summoner problems. For the last thousand years, maybe even before that, we've been responsible for the safety and welfare of our people. If I allow this to come to light before the people are ready then war will erupt all over again."

"Are the people here that foolish?" Cloud asked.

"They're easily frightened." Yuna looked out the large windows and wondered if she could hide in this decrepit palace for the rest of her days. It wasn't a terrible place. Quite lovely if one cleaned in up a bit. "This is my life. Finding horrible secrets and slowly telling people about them."

"I'll go with you to the next one," Cloud spoke. "A guardian protects a summoner right? And you broke up with yours."

"It'll be good for you," Yuna turned t smile at him. The sunlight was making his golden locks glint and shine while those electric blue eyes watched her carefully. He was studying her, she knew. "You'll learn all about your new world."

Cloud stood upright and Yuna once again marvelled at how much space he seemed to fill despite his slender frame. She noticed how his strength had recovered and the grace he moved with. The muscles beneath his skin flexed as he knelt before her and offered his hand.

"I'm not sure how you're people make oaths, but this was how they did it in all the stories and plays in my time." He straightened his shoulders and his mouth quirked in a mischevious little smile. "I, Cloud Strife of a land long forgotten, offer my sword to you. So long as I draw breath, I will be your guardian."

Yuna couldn't help the giggle that came out at his very serious and dramatic promise.

"I, Lady Yunalesca Fabula, High Summoner of Spira, swear never to use your sword for immoral purpose. For every breath you take, I shall be yours to keep."

Despite their fooling something very changing had happened between them. She'd never had a guardian swear themselves into her service. She'd never promised herself to a guardian. To anyone. Cloud seemed just as bewildered by the change as she was. When he rose from the marble floor in a fluid motion he stayed standing before her for a moment more. He didn't seem like a hero the way Auron had. He didn't seem like any of the guardians or fierce warriors she'd encountered here. Cloud was far calmer. Solemn in his countenance save for that spark she'd glimpsed. She'd see that smile again.

"What do we do next?" He asked.

"I'd like to find a map of the aeons King Zanar created. If possible, I'd like to relocate them into more accessible temples. I know it's selfish, and it might be cruel, but parts of Spira are collapsing without an aeon to keep the balance."

"If you take the aeons from their current places, won't that ruin the balance too?" Cloud asked. "It's been a thousand years since they were placed."

"Then maybe..." Yuna bit her lip and started drumming her fingertips against each other as she thought. Though and then began to pace through the office. "Maybe we won't move them unless the temple is sunken, or the area in ruins."

"And if it's a good place?"

"Then Issaru and I will work to notify Bevelle so pilgramage routes can be set up. Yevon may ave fallen, but something familiar might help to calm the people."

"You still haven't told me why the people need to be calmed." Cloud's voice came out a bit harder and more demanding than she'd heard so far. For a moment she didn't know what to do or what to say. The political climate of Spira was something everyone knew without words. Something she'd never put into words before simply because she was too close to all of the parties involved.

"Four years ago I defeated Sin. I should have died, it was tradition to die. To placate a beast that would simply return. I defied the beliefs of Yevon, exposed them for the corrupt and twisted structure they truly were. My entire life and everything I believed in was nothing but a lie. In exposing them, I set off a chain of events.

"Without a single governing body to keep the peace, factions began to emerge. Each little area forming it's own laws and fighting with each other. New Yevon emerged, holding to the beliefs and moral code without the Fayth to guide their actions."

"A religeon without faith?"

"Fayth, the spirits of the dead. They would speak to us through aeons or high ranking priests. Without the Fayth the priests developed smething new. Something that worked for people who weren't ready for change. The Youth League emerged and took control of all the roving gangs in the little cities. They went to war and my friends and I stopped them because something terrible had woken up."

"Then what?"

"That was two years ago. The Youth League has fractured into the Peacekeepers, led by my friend Paine. They keep the law, they don't war with Yevonites, they welcome them in fact. They're the more peaceful of the two and focus on keeping Spira safe from fiends and bandits."

"The Youth League is all of the trouble makers now, isn't it?" Cloud asked. His arms had crossed over his chest and now he leaned against the desk with her. "I'm guessing Yevon went the same way? One starting fights and one trying to keep it together."

"True Yevon. They're extremists. There's been a string of kidnappings in major cities and the Peacekeepers are ding their best to stop it. That's why Paine started it. Nooj wasn't doing anything to curb them and Baralai is having enough trouble keeping Bevelle in one peace."

"What if the Aeons end up making things worse?" Cloud looked at her. "You could end up with extemists in charge of temples, Youth Leaguers kidnapping aeons or summoners."

"I know. Oh by the Fayth I know."

Cloud watched as his charge mulled it over in her head. It was a situation she must have thought on a thousand times since it began. She hadn't told him the full story of how she'd almost died but she didn't know just how closely her death mirrored those of his own life. The last woman he'd vowed to protect had died in prayer to stop a horrible beast too. Yuna had ignored what she was supposed to do and because of that the world was changed. She wasn't like Aerith. For every action that reminded him of the flower girl, Yuna would do something wholly her own. Chew her lip in worry. Pace the floor without pattern. Plot out all of the forseeable consequences of her actions. Her eyes were different too. Aside from their colors which were brilliant in their own right, they held a different sort of experience in them. A different kind of sorrow and loss.

"Giving people the right to make their own choices is important."

"Yes."

"A summoner is supposed to be a symbol of hope to those who need it."

"Yes."

"As a man who has lived through the destruction and rebuilding of a world, who personally destroyed his own established government, and was forced to confront the truth about heroes, I can tell you that there will always be someone with enough of a brain and enough force to take control when the pieces fall." Cloud looked at her and their eyes met. She was listening but she wasn't adoring. There was something about her that encouraged him to talk. Perhaps it was centuries of being alone in his own head or the way she merely listened. Maybe it was because they shared a path in life. "You and I didn't mean to lead revolutions. We both stepped back once it was over. But it's our job to make sure it doesn't happen again. To make sure the new leaders aren't as corrupted as the old ones."

"I've been refusing to meet the Patron of True Yevon," Yuna admitted. "He's sent people to try and convince me to go to him. I've been kidnapped by priests and maesters more times than I'd like to admit."

"Then we won't go. If he wants to meet, then he'll meet on your terms."

"He wants to marry me. Just like Fidelius, and Seymour, and Baralai. As a figurehead of their power and righteousness."

"Fidelius?" Cloud leaned back.

"Someone from a long time ago." Yuna pushed herself up from the desk and turned to keep looking around the room. She wasn't going to speak of Fidelius and Cloud wasn't going to ask. Baralai he knew about, vaguely. He could guess Seymour was one of her former kidnappers and would-be suitors.

"Out of curiousity, how many people am I going to have to keep you safe from?"

"Well, I suppose that depends on if they stay dead. People never seem to stay dead for very long here."

Cloud couldn't help but snort at that. "They never have."

Yuna decided to keep reading through the old diary while Cloud began to dig through the decrepit old office. Despite the advanced machinery of his 'shrine' this place didn't seem to have a lot of tech laying around. In fact, everything seemed a little bit less advanced than the time he'd been a part of. Fuck. That was something entirely out of his depth. He'd been kidnapped in kept in stasis by the same kind of whack job religious nuts who were causing problems now. His entire life was gone. His friends, the little family he'd built for himself with Denzel. Was it too much to hope that they'd stolen his son away in the night as well? Now he was here. Saving mankind from itself. Saving a young woman from his own worries and anxieties.

"Are there any others?" Cloud asked her as she turned the pages. "Heroes. I adopted a son. His name was Denzel."

"I'll look. Did he have any features? You were the Golden, so maybe..." Yuna dove into the book with a different sort of vigor than before.

"His eyes were almost as blue as mine. His family grew up by a reactor so he was exposed to mako from infancy and then to the lifestream when..." Cloud paused for a moment when Yuna looked at him in absolute horror. "That's not normal anymore, is it?"

"No. The Fayth constructed the Farplane in between the Lifestream and the living realm to prevent such a thing." Yuna searched his face for any sign he might be mistaken. "We'll have to do a lot of catching up on our way to fetch him."

"You found him?" Cloud was beside her in mere seconds, trying to decipher the books in front of her.

"Maybe." She hurried to emphasize the _maybe_ of her discovery. "The Scion is on one of the lower floors, about three below this one in the shrine."

"Let's go." He began to walk out of the room and Yuna's steps were light and quick behind him. When she took hold of his arm he paused and he was well aware of two brother's sticking their heads out of a room further down the hall.

"Wait, Cloud, you don't even have a weapon."

"I have..." He didn't have his materia either. "Not a very good guardian, am I?"

"We'll work on it. For now though, take this." She handed him one of her guns. "Once we find an armory, we'll see if there's something you can have for yourself. So don't lose that."

Cloud took the firearm in hand and realized once again that Yuna was not like Aerith at all. Together they continued down the hall, down the stairway that led from one open air veranda to another. The whole palace seemed to be nothing more than a pile of corridors and gardens, broken up by the occasional difference in layout. One of the floors seemed to be nothing more than a very large ballroom, long tables lining the walls and decorated still with plates and cutlery.

"It's like everything just, ended," Yuna whispered as they went further down the tower. Larger room and yet more corridors had gone off in other directions but they would explore those later. After Cloud had Denzel in his possession.

"A plague?" Cloud asked as he pushed a heavy door open. Whenever he had to shove his way through, Yuna had him covered. He wasn't sure how good she was with the gun in her hands but she'd done quite a bit and made it this far.

"Or shame." Yuna moved closer to him and eyed the corners as they moved throgh the much darker hall. Light creeped in through shuttered windows and neither one wanted to illuminate the place just yet. "The Great Temple in Zanarkand was supposed to be the living quarters of the senate and Prime Minister Yevon."

"There's stories of noblemen who went mad and had to be locked in their mansions," Cloud turned sharply towards something in a corner. Something that glimmered and made Yuna even more wary. It had been years since he'd trained with a firearm but he kept it trained on the glimmering object while Yuna watched the rest of the room. "When they got too old the staff would leave them to die."

"And if they couldn't leave?" Yuna asked.

"They died with him." Cloud crouched down to pick up the item. It was a little red gem in the shape of a diamond. "I'd guess no one came around looting." He offered the item to Yuna and almost a moment later came to regret it. "Get down!"

Yuna wasn't trained military, she wasn't a professional fighter, but she knew how to work with others. She'd spun into a crouch, aiming sharply at the little green thing while he stood over her with sights trained. The creature didn't move except to bark at them in fright before ducking behind an overturned chair.

"Are you going to play nicely?" She asked, leaning closer and lowering her gun.

The little thing poked it's head out and made a strange purring bark. It's tail flicked in rapid succession from the other side before it slunk out a little bit further along its belly. Cloud leaned back in surprise and the creature yelped and ducked back. It had three tails. A funny green bunny fox cat thing with three tails, a giant ruby on it's head, and more jewelry than even Scarlet had worn was hiding while Yuna laughed.

"It's alright, Cloud isn't going to hurt you." Yuna put her gun away and crawled over on her hands and knees. "He's just trying to keep us safe while we look for his son." The creature poked it's head out again and made a questioning sort of sound. Very slowly it came all the way out and sniffed at Yuna's hand. "He's my guardian. I'm a summoner. Oh! You know what that is, don't you?"

"Are you sure you should let him crawl in your lap like that?" Cloud asked as he leaned just a bit closer. It was about the size of a corgie or a fox and seemed to love wiggling around in circles before her.

"If he's my new Aeon, then it's very important for us to bond." Yuna ruffled the creatures fur and wiggled it's floppy rabbit-like ears. The things were nearly so long as it's tails. "Alright then. Let's leave this horrible room and keep looking for Denzel."

The creature hopped about her feet and circled around Cloud's with tiny barks and excited yips.

"Why didn't it come to find you before?"

"Aeon's are bound to their stones if a summoner doesn't call them. If he was left here when the palace fell, then he's been trapped alone in the dark like you were. The same way Siren was trapped in a pool by herself." Yuna paused when the creature headbutted her leg. "I think he has a name too."

They played a guessing game through the rest of the rooms, little green things tumbling through wild grass and sniffing or eating flowers they passed. With every wrong guess it snorted and pranced away along a path it knew and they did not. Not that Cloud or Yuna dropped their guard. Where one creature was others tended to be as well. When they reached the shrine Cloud was especially wary.

"The last time I was in a temple," Yuna began moving into the room. "Someone tried to marry me."

"Someone tried to kill me," Cloud agreed. "Sounds about the same."

Yuna liked Cloud. He was funny. Her new aeon didn't seem as sure but her new aeon didn't drain her energy the way others had in the past. She'd have to ask Issaru if Siren did the same but for now, she would keep her two companions until they found Denzel. Her little green guy began to paw at the shrine itself, dragging the ancient covering from the surface and knocking things over. When a candlestick fell too close the thing yipped and backed away. Cloud did not back away. In a swift motion he uncovered the thign to reveal yet another console. This one was different. Shaped more like a casket than the vertical thing Cloud had been inside of. She moved to help Cloud look for the release button.

"This is a shrine for squires," Yuna found herself saying as they looked for the release button. "I suppose after a thousand years it might make sense to place the Golden One's squire in a place like this." Yuna spotted a strangely raised design on the casket and slammed her hand down onto it. "Do you think that'll work Carbuncle?"

Her little aeon yipped in delight and the three figures watched as the wall slid away to reveal a small tank with a young boy inside.

~!~!~!~

I started a new one. I know, I know, I have other ones. And I could have updated them once I settled here in NY (oh yeah, I moved across the country!) but this idea has been bugging me for a while, and CiWL just isn't quite as dark as I like to go.


	2. Chapter 2

Denzel did not wake as easily as Cloud. He was much smaller and while Cloud had been silent during the entire affair, Yuna knew that the boy's size hadn't played in his favor. As Denzel rest in the garden and Issaru and Maroda studied silently in the library, Yuna continued to read through Zanar's diaries. Cloud loomed. He brooded. He watched for any shift in Denzel's breathing at all and if Yuna hadn't shoved her communicator at him and told him to explore earlier, she was certain he might have paced a hole in the already uneven garden. Now he hovered over Denzel while an impressive sword was planted in a flowerbed. He'd left them just long enough to find a weapon.

"Cloud, he's healing." Yuna looked up from the pages for the nth time that evening. "Carbuncle is doing all he can to help and Issaru and I are both monitoring him."

"I know. There's nothing else I can do though." The warrior stopped hovering and came to sit beside her. "I can't build a fire without materia, I can't read the language, and I can't help my son."

Yuna bit her lip and looked down at the pages. Then she pulled something out of her hip pouch. A book she hadn't read in ages and carried with her always. A book Cloud would need to read if he wanted to help on this journey across Spira to find his companions and the rest of his family. She opened it to the first page and showed Cloud the alphabet of their world. The alphabet that had a simplified version beneath it and the penciled in AlBhed alphabet beneath that.

"This is the Book of Yevon. It's a little beat up, and I used to draw in the margins, but it's the first book I learned to read. We can practice the alphabet while we wait for Denzel. Then you can learn beside each other." Yuna set Zanar's diaries aside and moved the book before Cloud. Very carefully she cleared a patch of garden dirt and picked up a nearby stick. "This is Princeps. It's the symbol for Yevon, the number one, 'Holy', and 'start'. It makes the A, ah, I and ih sounds."

Most of Spira still ran on the script of Yevon. So even if he didn't pick up the rest of the language, and she assured him that many people never did, he'd be able to navigate the world as it was now. She also made him draw over the letters she drew before copying his own. Issaru stayed silent throughout while Maroda watched and offered his own little footnotes. Every so often they'd have to restart as Carbuncle kicked in his sleep beside Denzel.

"I don't think I've ever seen an aeon who could and would stay out so long as he does," Issaru finally spoke up as Cloud set about to writing his name; He had to invent something as his own sigil just as Yuna and Issaru had.

"He's hardly draining my magic at all. It's almost as though I need a cup of tea, or I should have drank more water." She leaned over and looked at Cloud's progress. "Dark water?"

"That's how I wrote my name before. Cloud."

"Well, a hurricane is a cloud that brings strife. And they're quite dark." Issaru leaned over and looked at the writing. "It's close enough to the script that the annals won't fuss when he takes his place as your guardian. Though, he may be the only guardian taken in a time without Sin."

"That's the last letter of the alphabet," Cloud hummed as his head turned to Denzel. At nearly the same time Carbuncle awoke and began to sniff at the child. Perhaps not a child though. He was at least Pacce's age, perhaps a bit older. "What month is it?" Cloud asked.

"Tonight marks the second full moon of spring." Yuna leaned forward with Cloud. "I don't know what you're asking otherwise."

"That means it's Uzuki," Cloud smiled. "Denzel's birthday."

Uzuki. That was a much quicker way to say the month. Perhaps she'd have to start using it, perhaps she could even write it in her letter to Baralai when she asked him to adjust the annals of her record as High Summoner.

"Denzel of Strife," Issaru hummed as he leaned back. The gentle tendril of magic he'd been keeping on the boy began to fade away and back into the man. "Perhaps Maroda and I should dig up a present while you two greet him. The fewer strangers the better."

"I'm going to look for firewood," Maroda began walking in the other direction. "And I promise to only take from broken things."

Cloud waited patiently as Denzel began to stir from his false slumber. He would not think of the dreadful things that might happen. The loss of memory or the implication he'd been experimented on. Whomeever had taken them must have been very powerful. If not physically then financially. Perhaps Shinra, perhaps something more sinister. The Deepground survivors who hadn't given in or agreed to obey the laws had gone a little sideways. If anything, their defeat had made everythign much worse. Then again, centuries had passed and not a single human being knew who he was or a single thing about life before. Perhaps nothing had changed at all.

A bird chirped above him and Denzel's eyes began to move.

Yuna's thin tendril of magic and Carbuncle's soft nose were still in contact with the boy. Magic drifting across his chest as it checked for injury and clear lungs while the bunny fox cuddled and buried his head under the boy's hand.

"He's not very nice when he wakes up," Cloud caught Carbuncle's collar. "You can cuddle all he wants once he wakes though. I promise."

Carbuncle made a complaining little growl before curling up between Cloud and Yuna. He didn't feel like any animal who'd cuddled up with Cloud, but he'd never had much experience with animals that weren't trying to kill him. And just as he'd said, Denzel began to grumble and his face twisted up grumpily. He tried to turn and made annoyed and angry sounds, then finally frustrated ones until finally Cloud risked putting a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Denzel, buddy, I need you to open your eyes, okay?" He was rather glad the boy couldn't lift his arms to high. "We got a little bit lost, and all I need you to do is open yours eyes, okay?"

Cloud was aware of Yuna and Carbuncle moving back a little bit while he helped denzel. He was as aware of her as he was of the boy's frustration over his own body's refusal to respond. As calm and as quietly as he could, Cloud explained what had happened and where they were now. That he'd made some friends who were helping them out.

"We're going to travel with Yuna for a while, pick up a bit more of the lingo." Cloud helped denzel to sit upright. "But first, we're going to sit here while you wake up."

"Where are we?" Denze's words slurred and he looked like he might fall back asleep at any moment.

"Yuna?" Cloud called. He didn't actually know.

"Aerilon Palace, to the south east of Zanarkand." Yuna came closer and Carbuncle paced slowly behind her, waiting to see if Denzel would stop being so groggy. The woman knelt to Cloud's right and faced Denzel. "I'm happy to see you've woken up Denzel. My name is Yuna."

Denzel made a grumbling sound and turned his body in to face Cloud's stomach. The elder gave a half of a smile and looked up at Yuna with a more serious face. Aerilon Palace wasn't in any of the history books she'd learned of but that was it's name according to Zanar. She'd also managed to call her cousin for an airlift out but it wouldn't be able to pick them up for another day. Assuming the sandstorm broke by tonight.

"She's going to see if Paine can pick us up in one of her patrol ships," Yuna explained. "If the storm doesn't break in the next few hours, then we need to find a way down to the ocean and light a signal fire."

"You explored a mysterious tunnel without supplies and now we're stranded until a storm ends."

"A storm on the other side of the world," Yuna clarified with a sheepish smile. "It's apple season, so we'll have something to eat as we walk down tomorrow."

"Apples grow in spring?" Cloud asked. His question elicited her laughter and after a moment she smiled and answered him. It was always apple season. It had always been apple season and always would be.

"Haven't there always been dumbapples?" Yuna asked. Her curiousity was gnuine and for the first time since waking, Cloud felt as though he'd never been more at home.

"We called them Banora Whites," Cloud answered. "There were more kinds of apples back then. Green, red, yellow, pink. I didn't think something would remain after all this time."

"Banoras," Yuna tested the word out. "I think it might take some time to catch on. But, if Paine comes and gets us, then she's more likely to come fully prepared and ready to burn the lab to the ground. That would make it easier to come back here later."

"That's her name?" Denzel's voice came from Cloud's stomach and both adults looked down to see if he was really talking to them.

"Commander Paine of the Peacekeepers, yes." Yuna shook her head and Carbuncle began to belly crawl over to Denzel. "He's been very worried about you Denzel. Perhaps you could let him make sure you're alright?"

The boy leaned back for a second before Carbuncle nearly toppled him to the ground with wagging tails and excited little yips.

~!~

The dawn came before any of them were ready to truly move away from this garden, but not quick enough for tired bones and hungry adventurers. Just as Yuna had guessed, Paine would be getting them from the beach. A beach that, after descending down a few dozen flights of stairs, proved to be much closer than anyone thought. There had been apples trees on four terraces of the palace and the fiends that emerged outside the gates gave everyone some much needed exercise. It allowed Cloud to sharpen his skills after his slumber and Yuna was able to fight alongside someone instead of against them or cheering them on from the side. Not to say she hadn't done her fair share with the Gullwings. This was different though.

"Your guardian isn't half bad," Issaru noted as they watched Cloud play with a large Ochu. "He could hurry it along though."

"I think he's trying to remember how to move," Yuna hummed as she sat and watched beside Denzel. "Or was he always like this?"

"No. Cloud likes to end things as quickly as he can. The only time he does this is when he's trying to learn about the monster."

"It's weak against fire!" Maroda shouted to Cloud. "And I'm weak from hunger!"

"You just ate," Denzel scolded him.

"And you're still a growing boy. You should be on my side about this!" Maroda wagged a finger at him. "At the very least you should be learning how to use that thing."

Denzel's grip tightened on the sword he'd been given for his birthday. Maoda had found it in his wanderings within the temple and upon Cloud's approval, handed it over to Denzel along with five hundred gil. The gil had been from Yuna, but the combined presents seemed to make the teen...well, not happy, but not unhappy either. Yuna had never met anyone like Denzel. Nor had she met someone like Cloud.

"When we get onto the boat, I can try to teach you some magic," Yuna offered to Denzel. After Maroda's advice the ochu had been slahsed to bits and Cloud forced to remind everyone that he couldn't use magic. "It's not terribly hard, but it doesn't require concentration."

"Just what I always wanted, more school." The teen boy's words were sarcastic. She could see it in his body though. The way he got a little bit anxious to learn and the way his shoulders stiffined at the thought. "At least Cloud has to learn too."

The trek through the forest took another hour and then it took another thrity minutes to cross the rubble in between the jungle and the beach. Zanarkand hadn't been the only city this far north, but it had been the only city anyone had bothered with. Perhaps Yuna could tell Rikku about this place and her AlBhed kin could come here. It was far enough from Zanarkand and there didn't seem to be any evidence of foul play or temples. Yuna really couldn't stand the thought of leaving her people in the desert after everything that had happened to them.

She continued thinking of these things as she sent a sizable ball of fire up into the sky. In the last two years her dresspheres had been morphing together. Before the sphere grid, she'd been able to summon, to cast white and black magic, and though she wasn't quite so good as Rikku, she'd been able to pickpocket and sneak into places quite easily. Once the grid appeared though, she'd gotten lazy. And now that her spheres were cracking or mixing together, she had been forced to practice again. Forced to practice all magic. Forced to practice her fighting with a staff. Her marksmanship. Now her will and her summoning was being pushed again.

"That's a really big fire spell." Cloud was standing beside her while Maroda taught Denzel the finer points of fighting with a scimitar.

"Fira," Yuna hummed. "Once Paine gets here I'll need to figure out what to do next." He didn't respond and she didn't speak again, not until she realized he was waiting for her. "I hate reading his diary, but right now it's our only clue."

"I stole a map." Cloud reached into his pocket and pulled a rolled up parchment from the depths. "It has some interesting markers."

Yuna unrolled the map and looked at the Spira of a thousand years before. She could only just recognize it.

"It looks so different," she sighed. "It's so much bigger."

"It's smaller," Cloud frowned. "This used to be a place called Temple of the Ancients."

"That's...Besaid is right here, where the temple is, but Kilika is here," Yuna looked closer at the map. "We used to be the same island."

They spent time looking over the map, taking notes and correcting what was and wasn't in place anymore. Every so often Yuna would have to stop and fire another signal into the air. Carbuncle would come running over to see what was the matter and Issaru would look up from where he was communing with his Siren.

"Picon temple," Yuna tapped a place on the map. "Zanar was getting paranoid about the local priestess speaking out against him so he sent one of his generals to investigate."

"We'll check it out once we get off of this beach."

The next time Yuna shot off a signal flare they got a blaze in return. Deep crimson in comparison to Yuna's bright white flames. The boat didn't appear for nearly fifteen minutes more, but by then they'd lit a larger fire on the beach and had finished their fruit. It wasn't a large ship, but It was a fast one and Yuna knew that within it's confines an entire squad of Peacekeepers was ready to attack pirating vessels. If not for Yuna's call it would be out there now and Paine would be in Luca. She watched as a smaller boat broke away from the ship and sped towards the shore, Paine standing in the prow with her arms crossed and a light scowl on her face. That part hadn't changed in all the time Yuna had known her but in building the peacekeepers, her wardrobe had undergone a massive revision. She was clad in even more black leather now, a full body suit that left only her neck and head exposed while bright silver armor protected her breast, her arms, and her legs. Chaps of pristine feathers fluttered from either side of her waist and chainmail in the same bright silver formed a lioncloth in front and back.

"Yuna," she greeted as she stepped off of the speedboat. Her armor shimmered and clinked as she walked up the beach. Her hair might have grown out but her shape was still as slender as it had ever been.

"Paine, it's good to see you." Yuna moved forward to give her friend a hug that was fully returned. She was a bit more pokey than the last time Yuna had seen her. "I see you've picked up a few more honors."

"It's good to see you're off of that island." Paine leaned back with a smile. "Less good to see you're still getting into trouble." She glanced over at Cloud and the others. "So which one did you pick up and which one tagged along?"

Before Yuna could scold her or even speak up in her defense, Maroda was helping his brother and Denzel climb onto the boat. Cloud seemed to be waiting for her to move forward. Paine seized the opportunity to corner him.

"You're the one she picked up on the way," Pained crossed her arms at the swordsman. He micked the action and nodded at him. "Why should I let you follow her?"

"I swore an oath."

"Didn't we all. That's not a good enough answer. I want to know why I shouldn't throw you into my brig until we hit Luca."

"Paine!"

"Yevon or no, Sin or man, You're still the High Summoner," Paine pressed. "If I let every would be companion turned stalker get too close-"

"I'm her guardian," Cloud cut Paine off. "Yuna accepted my oath. She decided I'd be her guardian before I even bent my knee."

Now Paine turned to face Yuna with a hundred burning questions and a decidedly nosey look on her brow. She was going to find out what had happened one way or the other andYuna would have no choice in the matter. Paine stepped back and let the duo climb onto the boat; Yuna was actually quite please when Cloud only offered a hand to help her balance. He didn't hold her hand or guide her into the dingy. He just stood there waiting.

Paine noticed quite easily the way Cloud had flinched upon seeing her. The man had a grudge of some sort against her, or someone she resembled, because after those first few moments and Yuna's assurances he calmed down and treated her like any other soldier. She took it as a compliment. However, during the week in which they sailed along the coastline Paine did everything in her power to push him. It helped that her patrol found a gang of pirates along the Picon coastline.

"Picon Bay is one of the least populated areas of Spira." Paine leaned over the desk in her quarters. A map had been pinned down and magnetic figures represented each of her troops. Clinging to the places she moved them in the roughest of seas and angriest of storms. "It's a lot of big game hunters and roughneck fishermen. It's also well known for the Picon Temple, one of Spira's last vestiges of ancient wealth."

"I've heard of it," Cloud stood on the other side of he table. His arms were crossed before hi and the sword he'd brought along was now harnessed on his back. "From a time before Sin. I thought pirates attacked ships."

"Picon Temple is nearly impossible to enter," Paine shook her head. "I've tried. It pains me to admit, and especially in front of her, but it's a place only a high summoner can enter."

"I'll make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble," Cloud nodded. Paine couldn't help but smirk as Yuna protested the very idea that she should be kept away from anything meant for a high summoner.

"A team of seven guardians couldn't keep her out of trouble. Much less myself and Rikku." Paine looked up at the man. "You're just going to help her get into it."

The blond shrugged at her and Paine wondered if this was the first sign of pending doom. A guardian who knew Yuna would get into trouble and instead of trying to stop her wanted to help her find it. That he admitted it was perhaps worse. The commander looked back and forth between the two and wondered for a moment if she'd missed something.

"Recently there's been reports of both hunters and pirate ships going missing. Normally I wouldn't care about the second, but Lord Lucas's youngest son is amongst one of the missing hunters."

"Lord Lucas now?" Yuna asked. She was standing at the end of the table. Neither beside Paine nor Cloud, but close enough to both that neither would feel slighted or ignored. Close enough hat any sudden fight would mean they stood together.

"Mayor Lucas apparently wasn't prestigious enough. The entire family has held power for so long that the Lucans don't seem bothered by it."

"Well, the city is named after them."

Something was happening on deck and within moments the three of them hurried up; Cloud's son and Issaru were hurrying down. One being dragged by the other until Cloud gave the boy a direct order to stay in his room with Issaru. Paine had to approve of moments like that as well. No matter how much she tried to disapprove of Cloud he seemed to do exactly the right thing.

"What's going on?" Paine shouted as her unit ran about the deck.

"There's a ship coming on fast along the port side. We're trying to identify it, but no response."

"How long?" Paine asked as she unclipped her sword.

"About twenty minutes if we're lucky."

Paine looked over at Cloud and Yuna to see the both of them ready to join the fray. She only hoped they wouldn't be needed. The men and women were ready to defend the deck while some of the ones in the rigging prepared to board the oncoming vessel. Paine could see it now, coming in faster with every heartbeat. Something was wrong with it. She called to the captain of her ship but the answer she received was not a pleasant one. The oncoming ship didn't seem to have a crew at all. All reports said it was unmanned. As it got closer to them she had to force their ship to veer further off course to avoid collision. The ghost ship didn't follow them; it continued along its path covered in thick ice and creaking painfully with each wave. The sails had been frozen into place to catch the breeze and the crew...

"May the Fayth save them," Paine exhaled as the ship passed them.

"I'd like to go ashore," Yuna spoke from beside her.

Picon Bay Hunter's Camp wasn't so bad. Much better off than the ship they'd passed. It was however a place that made Yuna glad to have Cloud beside her. Even Paine was walking a bit closer to them than she might have otherwise. A hunter's camp wasn't dangerous but it was rough. Filled with adventurers and caged beasts, streets lined with peddlers of steel and potions and flesh. That was the part that made Yuna glad for Cloud. Here in this cold place her garments were too close to those worn by a common streetwalker.

"Do you see Picon Temple?" Cloud asked as he walked with her through the streets. They were barely more than passages between rough stone buildings and in every crevice Yuna saw something unsettling.

"It's supposed to be on top of a hill. But this whole place is made up of hills." Yuna stepped over a stream of something spilling out of an ale house and out into the bay. "Where's Paine?"

"She and her soldiers went into the big tavern over there. Let's see if we can get out of this place."

Someone made a catcall upon hearing Cloud's words and another asked to have her once he was done.

"Tell me where the temple is and I'll think about it," Cloud called back.

Yuna started at the voice and tone he used. It was crasser and and he was slurring. He acted the part well and though his hand had drifted to the base of her spine, it hadn't gone any further. Just enough for him to pass as a lonely hunter with gil to spare. Yuna could only hide her face in his chest as the others became more interested in her physical attributes.

"Hey, I paid for a full night and day," Cloud caught one as he tried to grab for Yuna. "Where's this temple I keep hearing about?"

"We've tried sacrifice," one hunter gasped. His hand was caught in Cloud's grasp and his voice was pained. "You'll only be able to have her on the steps." Cloud tightened his grasp and the man let out a high pitched whine. "It's just outside of town, you'll be able to tell by all the ice on the ground."

Cloud tossed him away easily and Yuna felt torn about the satisfaction she felt as he tumbled down the steps and into an icy puddle. It didn't feel like spring here. It felt like a never ending winter's day. The chill from the ocean and the temple lingered in the souls of these people. Once they left the desolate town the edge faded a bit. Yuna's skin was cold but there wasn't a film of sorrow anymore.

"I'm sorry," Cloud spoke as his hand left her waist. "Men like that, they only know one real language besides fighting."

"Why? How did you shift so quickly?"

"I used to be a soldier for a man worse than Zanar. Maybe. His entire family knew about the experiments that were happening and pushed their researchers to go further, to do more." Cloud's grip on his sword tightened. "I was one of the lucky ones."

Yuna slipped her hand into his and continued walking alongside him. At on point she was taking the lead, pulling him along while he silently kept pace. There was nothing she could say or do to comfort the man without knowing more about what had happened but she could help him in the now. She could point out the signs leading the way to the temple and to the Silkstone Palace. Cloud seemed content with this. Perhaps not happy, but such memories were hard to recover from once brought up.

"Silkstone Palace?" Cloud asked. "You know about that?"

"No. The sign looks almost as old as Picon's though." Yuna looked between the two signs and sighed. "I really do get into too much trouble."

"Exploring ancient ruins isn't getting into trouble," Cloud began towards Picon Temple. "Until we unleash an ancient evil, we aren't getting into trouble."

"We're just cleaning up our home?" Yuna asked with a smile.

"Exactly."

The walk took the better part of an hour if one excluded the battles against fiends and the small relics Yuna stopped to investigate. Every path off of the cobblestone road was looked into and it's treasures claimed or fiends conquered. Cloud was almost more eager to take the small detours. It had been a long time since she'd explored with someone who wanted to explore for the sake of it. During her pilgrimage there had been pressure to be as quick as possible. To focus on the rites of death instead of living as much as she could. She'd explored many places as a Gullwing but there was always something more important than just exploring for the sake of it.

"Yuna."

She jerked out of her mind and looked at whatever it was Cloud had found. It was a model of the much larger temple up on the hill. The difference was that this one was covered in brightly colored flowers and the foreground had people in front of it. Yuna leaned closer to see the duet of figures before the shrine.

"They look familiar."

"They look like us," Cloud corrected. "If you wore your hair loose and I wore purple again."

"You wore purple?" Yuna asked. She looked him up and down and tried to imagine him in the bright colors Gippal loved so much. Even with that image and a small figurine in front of the shrine, she couldn't see him in such a bright color.

"It was navy blue, but the colors faded." Cloud came closer to where she knelt before the shrine. "Did you ever wear your hair loose?"

"Not in a long time. And it wasn't so long as that."

"But it is now." Cloud stood upright and dug in his pocket until a small square of faded purple fabric emerged. He set the fabric upon the small blonde man in his purple robes and a light swelled around the tiny man before shooting along a crack in the cobblestone road. Along that crack and up to the main temple where a very small glimmer could now be seen on the doors. "Your turn."

Yuna frowned. It had been a long time since she let her hair down and the crimson cord that bound it back was a symbol of...something that no longer existed. She pulled the ribbon loose and tossed it aside. Cloud watched her as it fell to the ground and as her fingers unbound the braid that had emerged. She she shook her hair out and it brushed along the figure of the woman another bright light joined the first.

"It's going to take at least an hour to do this again," Yuna sighed as she pulled her hair into a quick bun. When Cloud handed her the fallen crimson binding she paused. She could leave it here before this shrine and the severance would be official. She had a witness and the power to complete the ritual on her own if she wanted.

"You need to give it back to someone," Cloud spoke after a long moment.

"I never accepted it from anyone." She watched as he wound it around his hand. Once it was nicely wound, he slipped it from his fingers and put it into his back pocket. "You're keeping it?"

"It seems like something you're going to have to deal with later," he shrugged. "You don't want to hold it, so I will."

He left the clearing and Yuna glanced back at the small flower covered shrine. Very quickly, she picked up the remnant of his past and placed it on her own pouch.

The next shrine was covered in blood red leaves of autumn and surrounded by golden tiles. Each little tile bore an engraving of wheat, corn, or barley though occasionally a black crow popped up in the pattern. Once again there were two figures, though in this one the 'Cloud' figurine wore a bright pink band and 'Yuna' had her summoners garb on.

"It's stripping us of our past," Cloud scowled as he wandered around the little temple. Yuna could see clearly the pink ribbon around his bicep and she knew exactly what she needed to give up for this part of the quest.

"Just until it's activated." Yuna lifted the little scrap of purple from her waist pouch and noticed Cloud relax a bit. "I think if I had to surrender my father's beads permanently I might just leave Picon locked away."

"I joined Soldier in the Spring. Aerith died in Autumn."

"My third marriage was in spring and my father died in autumn." Yuna took the beads from her hair and set them in front of the model while Cloud did the same with his ribbon.

"Third marriage?" He asked as they reclaimed the items and headed to the next model.

"Sort of. It's complicated and the proof of it, and of divorce, is in your pocket." Yuna clipped her beads back into her hair and waved Cloud's hands away as he tried to tie his ribbon back on. "The second marriage was to a dead man who'd kidnapped me, which makes the third one to a dream less odd."

"Does the first one make more sense?" Cloud asked.

"I was young and stupid," Yuna finished the bow and made a double knot with the soft pink silk. Her fingertips lingered on his skin just a bit longer as she thought about what to say. He was warm and her memories and the air around them were cold. "I was in my fifteenth summer and I met him in Bevelle. Everything he said seemed perfect and beautiful and we eloped to Aphrodin Village. It took three weeks for Khimari to find us and by then..." Yuna exhaled and let her hands fall away from Cloud's skin. "There's a reason I've been refusing to meet with the leader of True Yevon."

"Your ex-husband is the leader of an extremist faction?"

"And the second one was an undead who tried to destroy the world. Yes."

"And Tidus is a dream?"

"Yes. Hes a dream of the fayth, like all summons, but it's so complicated and it's-"

"Yuna. It's alright. I promise that I won't try to take over the world or lead a cult or turn into a nightmare." He took her by the hand and started walking again. "It's summertime next. And I told Paine that I'd help you get into trouble."

The summer shrine was further away than the others had been. Bright coral blossoms and deep blue waves crawled along the structure and this time the duet of figures was wearing very little. They were unarmed and hair unbound. There was only the hint of clothing upon them and even their faces were empty of expression.

"I'm not getting undressed in this cold," Cloud scowled at the image before him. He glanced over at Yuna and she felt almost the same. "Do you have anything in your pack that might help?"

"Not really." Yuna stood upright and wondered if Carbuncle might be able to help. "What happened to you in the summer?"

"Nothing. I started a delivery service to try and forget the guilt I felt for Aerith's death. For two years it didn't work. By the third summer I was Denzel's legal guardian and Deepground attacked." His arms crossed and he thought hard about his life. "What about you?"

"I started sphere hunting to try and bring Tidus back. I saved the world from two horrible machines, almost three. Oh, last summer Tidus started cheating on me." Her little idol began to glow a bit. "Summer is when Khimari found Fidelias and I in Aphrodin Village. It's also when I was forced into marrying Seymour." Her little idol was growing brighter and brighter with every confession. "This summer hasn't started yet."

"I met Aerith in the summer," Cloud agreed. "I both left and started dating Tifa in the summer. And then we broke up again after a few years of trying. My last summer I met a woman in Costa and we fooled around for a bit. Then I found out she was with the old Shinra research division and trying to pick up where Hojo left off."

Both of their bare idols were glowing now, just on the edge of erupting with light and opening the gate for them. What else could they possibly have to confess though? Their springtime woes, the autumn failures, the summer loves had all gone out and each had admitted to something dreadful.

"Aerith was your summoner," Yuna began as she looked closer at the shrine for clues. "Now I'm your summoner. You never explained her to me."

"She was amazing. Older than I was but there was something bout her that made you want to impress her and protect her. She was pure in a world of corruption. Aerith was also my best friend's true love and he died before Aerith and I met." Cloud crouched down to look at the script below the figurines. It was in a language even Yuna couldn't understand. Perhaps a language he knew. "I don't think she saw me when we were together. I think she only saw Zach." His figurine erupted and a sad sort of smirk appeared on his lips as he traced the writing on the pedistal. "'Bare your soul and the way shall open. With love comes fear.' It's written in a language that was old even in my time."

"I think Tidus came back wrong." Yuna's words were spoken in a rush and she knew that if she didn't say them now that she might never admit them to anyone. They'd remain within her mind and her heart until fear took hold. "I think I summoned him, or beckoned him and I think he's, he's not the boy I fell in love with five years ago."

Her idol shot it's light out to join Cloud's at the etemple doors and a loud rumble echoed throughout the area. Perhaps it wasn't a temple meant for a High Summoner, but one intended for someone who wanted to relieve themselves of secrets. The two of them made their way to the temple gates, armed and redy to fight what lay within as they'd done through the forests surrounding Aerilon and the path up to Picon Temple. But in baring their souls they'd put themselves in a position they weren't quite prepared for. They were completely honest with themselves for the first time and there was a witness to listen.

"Yuna."

"Yes Cloud?"

"Let's keep doing this. Telling the truth."

"I'd like to be honest with you."

He nodded and together they climbed the steps and entered the temple of winter. Yuna had vague memories of Macalania Temple. She remembered the woods more than the ice palace but this place put both of them to great shame. Every tile upon the floor shimmered like the scales of an oarfish while bright red and onyx veins spread across and up the walls. Great collumns of stone and crystal reached into a ceiling so high she couldn't sea where it stopped. It was beautiful. A place so beautifully cold that every breath she took froze and fell to the ground. She didn't shiver or shake though. She couldn't shiver or shake because the pyreflies and the magic floating through the building pulled her out of her body and into a summoner's trance.

"Yuna?"

Cloud's gloved hand on her arm made her jerk around to face him. The light of the pyreflies through the crystal and his glowing eyes made the world surreal.

"The priestess was very strong. So was the general they sent for her." Yuna tightened her grip on her gun and realized they'd come much further into the temple than she'd realized. "When a summoner or any person with strong magic gets in a place like this we get..."

"You stopped breathing Yuna." That made her blink at him. "I've seen trances. I've been caught in the lifestream and in old magic and _you_ stopped breathing. This place has something else."

"Something to make a powerful mage stop fighting," she exhaled. Yuna paid close attention to her breathing as they went further in. She wouldn't stop going in when there was more to the legacy of Zanar to discover. "Cloud, do you think that's why we're in here? Not just admitting the truth, but because we suit the general and the priestess?"

"I don't know. We can both use magic and we can both put up a fight." Cloud's eyes were getting brighter the further into the temple they went. "These crystals are strange."

"The aeon is twisted. When the flames of a temple turn blue it means something courrupted the aeon within." Even as she spoke, Yuna had the feeling this had always been the case in Picon Temple. She stopped and forced herself to take a deep breath just before a wide set of doube doors. "The air smells sharp."

"It's freezing in here," Cloud looked at her. He leaned closer and his glowing eyes were putting her in a trance again. When they moved or swayed, only broken by his blinking and her burning lungs. "We need to get out of here. You're turning blue."

"One last room," Yuna agreed.

He pushed the doors open and they went to the center of the shrine. There was no antechamber, no chamber of the fayth, not even a crystalized image of the priestess unfortunate enough to be trapped in this land. She concentrated on her breathing and Cloud watched the circular room for any sudden movements. Any slow buildup of magic around them would have been noticed right away by both. Yuna looked down at the floor to steady herself and let out a scream when she saw the priestess looking back. She, IT was under the floor. Clad all in black and held captive by an armored creature, the blue skinned priestess and the dark general swelled from beneath the tile and shot up to glide through the air. They swam about as one creature and circled Cloud and Yuna. The red eyes of the distorted armor and the bright blue of the priestess shone out from behind their masks.

"Yuna," Cloud came to stand before her. "I hope you have some fira left."

"Even better," she pulled a spell from deep inside. "Firaja!"

The flames burnt away the thick mist that had been lingering in the room and almost at once Yuna was able to focus on the fight. The flames that enveloped the dual figure elicited a high pitched scream of both and neither gender while the smell of burning hair and steel rose up in plumes around it. Cloud blocked a strike from the black spear of the general while Yuna cast another ball of flame at the corrupted duet. Almost as soon as the flames died down, the figures shimmied and a new blossom of thick mist rose from the tiles. Thicker than the last time and sending Yuna to the ground for all of the confusion. It was thicker the lower she went and Cloud's cries were distant in her mind. She felt a spray of something icy cold and noticed something clear across her skin. Glowing and rippling against her skin.

Birght blue lights seemed to float in front of her and pulled her upright. She needed fire. She needed to light a fire and to breathe. The need was so insistent and the lights were trying to make her understand. Sparks of orange and white were splashing off of the lights and the face that held them. She needed fire!

He mist burned away again and Yuna gasped for air. Cloud was holding her as they hid behind his sword and all of the lights she'd seen were from the spear driving at them, the ice spraying across the room, and his eyes. He was watching her as much as he was keeping an eye on their attackers. Yuna nodded and prepared another ball of fire. As she did, there was something tied around her arm.

"You can't afford to do that again," Cloud scowled as he knotted the pink ribbon with his teeth. "We need to get out of here if we want to go find the rest of them."

Any lingering effect of the mist was gone from her mind and Yuna focused on defeating this creature. Her shots were better able to hit the maiden while Cloud took on the warrior, balls of intense bright white flame devouring each whenever Cloud was clear. Twice their foe moved just enough that her shots grazed Cloud but the guardian gave no inclination that he was injured. She knew it hit him though. Once she was forced to hide behind a pillar as a ghostly sword came from the darkened ceiling, Cloud wielding the true blade that struck the creature.

Finally, as they lay upon the cold blue floor, Yuna released a ball of flame and lead upon the being. As with Siren and Issaru, it manifested into a large gemstone above the now visible Aeon Crystal in the floor.

Yuna reached for the item and felt a tingling coolness travel along her arm.

"Mateus," Yuna breathed out as the Aeon's presence took place in her mind. "Their name was Mateus. Husband and wife." Cloud's hand was warm on her wrist but as he made contact she felt Mateus spread out to him as well. "He was sent to prove his loyalty but Zanar had lain a trap."

Cloud nodded and began to lead her away from the ancient ice temple. The beings were telling them a tale of woe and sorrow. A husband loyal to his wife and both loyal to the people, but their only option had seemed to be a fight to the death. The horrible mist in the temple floors had been the trap lain by Zanar, for General Mateus had been a mystic knight, able to weild both magic and spear, and as both fought to keep up the appearance, each had lost their mind to the drug within.

"It's a good thing I can't use magic yet," Cloud leaned back against the temple doors. Both of them were getting their breath back from the fight and recovvering from the joint partnership with Mateus. "Otherwise we'd have been screwed."

"You will learn," Yuna sighed. She was sitting on the steps and trying to exhale the last of the mist from her lungs. "Come here, you're injured."

"I'll be fine." Cloud shook his head. He still came to stand beside her but instead focused on her burns from the ice of Mateus. "You should see to that before it gets too bad."

"Cloud, I know I shot you. Please just let me look." Yuna pointed at the space beside her and frowned until he sat down. He unzipped his sweater and for just a moment Yuna wondered why he covered it. Just for a moment though! Once she saw the blood on his shoulder she focused on healing him rather than feeling him. Tidus hadn't let her see his wounds or even touch him for the last three months. "You heal very fast." She spread her magic across his skin to check for any Regen spells and found nothing. Only the hair on his form prickling up as her magic trailed along.

"Part of the experiments," Cloud answered. He sat still while she focused a Cure spell on the wound. "How do you use magic without Materia?"

"I don't know what material is, but using magic is something you learn in the quiet of your mind." Yuna looked over his skin once more to see if she'd missed anything. "Just, focus on the way something looks while it heals. The way the muscle knits back together and the way it should look."

"I used to be really good with magic." Cloud took her arm and looked for all of the injuries left over from Mateus. "Let me see your other arm?"

He looked back and forth between the two and then his eyes drifted shut. Every person had a different feeling to their magic and Cloud was no different. His magic felt like the depths of the Farplane where the Lifestream lapped at it's banks and the most dangerous fiends lurked. She kept an eye on her skin and smiled as the itching burns faded away until only a cool lightness lingered. Cloud's eyes opened and while they didn't quite glow, they certainly drew her attention. He looked between the two once more and for the first time she watched as he removed his gloves and bare skin touched her. His skin was hot without the barrier between them.

"Did I do alright?" he asked as his thumbs brushed across her skin. There was absolutely no reason for him to keep touching her but the need for human contact was a driving force in his mind right now. Even before he'd been taken by the Acolytes there'd been little to no interaction with a woman. Beyond the physical and into the mental and emotional. Tifa and Vincent had gone to restart Nibelheim, Yuffie was herself, and between himself and Denzel there'd simply been no time.

"Perfect," Yuna's voice came through his mind. "This far up, it would be good to learn a fire spell or two." Though she spoke of clinical things he could feel the way Yuna leaned closer to him.

"Whatever you want." Cloud had to push himself up to keep from sitting there until the sun set. She rose with him, still appreciating the feel of human contact. "Do you think Mateus is doing something?"

"No." Her hand reached up to take hold of his and she began to lead him away from the temple. "We should get back before Paine comes looking for us."

The two of them made it back to Picon Bay with little issue though twice Carbuncle popped out to chase something and both stopped to stare down the path leading to Silkstone Palace. They'd come back for that when there was less of a driving need to get back. Then again, Cloud felt no need to get to any place in particular. For once he was the one tagging along while someone else ran. He wouldn't say anything yet. Not until he knew for sure. She didn't pull away from him when he resumed his drunken soldier persona either. If anything she stumbled alongside him and leaned her head into his chest. As they walked through the little town they noticed soemthing else.

"It feels warmer."

Cloud didn't say anything, he merely walked through the rubble and molding huts to where the ship awaited them.

It was after dinner that they spoke again, Denzel and Cloud both bent over homework as they learned the languages of the land; Cloud was much better at AlBhed while Denzel had the common alphabet down. What Cloud asked about had nothing to do with language at all for he'd decided the language of mechanics was the only one he needed. Instead his question had more to do with the ruins of Spira and Yuna's preference of them. He wanted to know which place was her favorite out of all the places she'd been to.

"Favorite?" Yuna leaned back to think about it. "The prettiest place I ever saw was the floating ruins of Mt Gagazet, although Picon temple was very close to beating it."

"Which one do you go back to?" Cloud asked.

"I visit Zanarkand the most. I can think in peace there. No one bothers me and whenever someone does see me they turn around and leave. Usually." Yuna adjusted her kimono sleeve and stared down at it for just a moment longer. "I think that's the place where I can try to figure out what I want to do. And now, there's another mission from the lineage."

"Lineage?"

All three of them turned to see Paine coming through the door of the mess hall. Her bright silver hair had been pulled back into a high tail though her bangs still flew to one side. In between Picon Bay and now she'd begun to mention cutting it all off.

"All summoners share the same bloodline," Yuna smiled at her friend. "We're all descended of..." She stopped and looked at Cloud. "Oh. I suppose...did you know of a man we call the Loveless One?" Cloud sighed and rubbed at his face before nodding. "Well? What was his name?"

"The red bastard," Cloud scoffed. "His name was Genesis Raphsodos and he used to play Fire Dodgeball with the new recruits. I still have nightmares about him."

"Surely he wasn't so terrible!"

"It's my experience that our ancestors are always bad," Paine took a seat at the table with them. "No matter the honors bestowed upon them a secret will always come to destroy us." She gave Yuna a look and even if Paine didn't really know the exact details, she knew that Yuna had found something out about Spira's past. "In the interest of preserving the peace I've elected not to ask questions about your new guardian, your divorce, or the fact that Picon Bay is suddenly experiencing a heat wave comparable to Besaid. That doesn't mean I'm going to let you run around causing havoc."

"Cloud and I are acting in the best interests of the eternal calm," Yuna told her friend honestly. "Myself, Issaru, and Dona have all convened on this matter and are in agreement on how to best proceed."

"When summoners agree it means someone ends up dead."

"Hopefully no more than have already died. If any faction discovered there were still aeons chaos would come for everyone." Yuna watched as Paine's brows rose up into her hair and bright red eyes widened to an impossible size. "I have two, Issaru has one. Dona has chosen to remain in Kilika and give up her summoning."

"Issaru is going to return to Zanarkand," Cloud shook his head. "Maroda and I were talking and they're going to start combing through the scrolls and blocking out the way to Aerilon Palace."

"Yuna," Paine interrupted. "The Peacekeepers can not be a part of this without making it an official excursion."

"You're giving a ride to some old friends," Yuna smiled at her. "That's all. Myself and my guardian got a little lost in the ruins and needed help getting home. That's all you need for your report."

"And Issaru? Maroda?"

"We were having a little reunion, Dona left early so she wouldn't hurt the baby."

Paine leaned back in her seat and the silver commander frowned. "I don't like this Yuna."

"Nor do I. But I need more proof that Zanarkand wasn't a den of corruption and vice. If Nooj found out that Bevelle was the better of two evils then every mage and summoner would fall under his hammer. True Yevon and New Yevon would fracture even further and war would erupt."

Paine frowned and her arms crossed a little tighter across her chest. The prime reason she'd left the Youth League and Nooj behind had less to do with Leblanc and more to do with Nooj's growing suspicion and hatred of magic. He'd even gone so far as to simply dump bodies directly into the farplane to avoid both the pyreflies and the use of a priest for the funeral. Not all of his people were like that, but enough that the Peacekeepers was comprised of a good many mages and mystics.

"In the interest of keeping the peace," Paine sighed. "This is exactly what I knew would happen if I started keeping the laws. I knew the time would come when I had to make this choice."

"A choice we've made before," Yuna pointed out. Her eyes met Paine's and she explained to the woman exactly what she'd shared with her fellow summoners. Denzel was enraptured by the story and Cloud kept his eyes on the doorway, paying more attention to any would be evesdroppers than the story he already knew. Throughout it all her friend was silent and drawn. "Now that Issaru and Dona have chosen their roles, I am going to live up to mine. I am the High Summoner and this is my duty."

"I was never your guardian." Paine looked up from her lap. "I am your friend. As your friend I can only ask that you're careful. If you're ever stuck, or need help, the library in Leonis is open to you."

"Thank you." Yuna reached for Paine's hand and the other woman took it. "We're going to go to Kilika and regroup next. Dona's been watching Pacce and I'm certain Denzel wouldn't mind being with someone closer to his age."

"Do I have to give up my sword?" Denzel asked. He didn't look overly pleased or emotional at all, though he did look annoyed.

"Only if you want Pacce to kick your butt," Yuna smiled at him. His eyes narrowed and while they didn't glow nearly so bright as Cloud's, there was fire in them. "He's been practicing a lot longer than you."

Cloud came back to the table with swift strides and by the look on his face she knew people were coming. All discussion shifted to Denzel's lessons in swordsmanship and the future of the Strife boys. Cloud could remain as Yuna's guardian for as long as he wished, but it wasn't a very viable source of income these days. Some might even disdain him for choosing to follow the old ways while others might view his elevation as nothing more than the latest in a long line.

Sailors and soldiers filed into the mess and Cloud watched as the descendants of Deepground ambled around and laughed. It had taken this long for him to recognize them. The way their eyes didn't truly glow but eminated a sort of of light. Not quite as electric as those of summoners but enough for him to realize just which groups had made it this far. He was glad to know that their descendants could laugh in the sun. Paine was one of those he was most happy for. She had Rosso's crimson eyes and the silver locks of the man Cloud had once called friend. As much as he feared the Sephiroth might try to come back through her, he was equally angered that such a willful and intelligent woman would be lost.

"Sir Strife," Paine called to him. "Do you sing?"

She did have the same tendency to pick upon those under her command as her ancestors.

"I haven't had enough to drink," Cloud shook his head.

"I suppose your engagement to Spira's songstress would be intimidating." Paine's single statement not only made Cloud's eyes widen and cause Yuna to choke on her drink, but it would effect their journey for months to come. He could even see the smirk on her lips as she exacted a very simple vengeance against them for using her to investigate. "Perhaps you'd be kind enough to grace us with a song lady summoner?"

"You're terrible," Yuna frowned at her friend. The noise of the cabin wasn't relenting and after only a moment she was climbing up onto the table. "One song! That's it."

The uproar of the soldiers didn't distract him from Yuna's transformation. Bright pinkish white lights swirled around her as her kimono turned to ribbons. Left behind was a much scantier skirt and an outfit Cloud could grow to like. Her guns had turned to a microphone and in just a few moments he and Denzel and all of the others were listening to a very upbeat and happy tune. High summoner, savior, and songstress. Cloud frowned as he realized he'd have to keep her safe from a good many people. Not just religious zealots or radical revolutionaries, but from fans. The kind of fan Paine had considered him to be until a few songs before.

"She's really good," Denzel told Cloud as they sat and listened to her.

"She is. What do you think of her?"

Denzel shrugged and looked down at his hands. He'd been fiddling with his fork since he sat down to study and eat. Cloud waited and as the next song started up he gave an answer.

"She's nice. She doesn't seem like the others. But it's just bodyguard work."

"We have a mission. Gaia, Spira, it's our world and we have to protect it."

"She acts like Yazoo." Denzel was talking about Paine now. Voicing the thought Cloud had been too reluctant to say. "She's not bad though. Not yet."

He knew. He knew very well.

"Sounded like more than one song," Cloud said as Yuna climbed down from the table. She hadn't changed out of her sphere yet but it was freeing to be in something besides her summoner's robes. She'd almost forgotten what it felt like.

"I can never seem to stop writing them," she laughed. "Rin's been trying to get me to record an album for months now."

"It might be good cover." Cloud released her hand when she touched the cabin floor and Denzel didn't look quite so unimpressed by her. His suggestion wasn't a terrible one though.

"The recording studio is in Luca, but so far I've only bee able to discern Kilika and Besaid as our next stops." Yuna decided that she was not going to slip back into her summoners robes for a very long time; she only ever wore them to make other people happy with the idea of what she was. "So, have you had enough to drink yet?"

Her blonde guardian smiled into his chest before shaking his head. He was no going to drink anywhere near this group of soldiers or in any place where he might have a microphone shoved into his hands.

"He sings in the bath," Denzel told Yuna as he packed up his homework. "Just wait until then."

Yuna blushed at the thought. If not for the close quarters and constant investigations the Peacekeepers maintained along the coast she just might have pondered his physique and golden locks a bit more. Once they landed it wouldn't be better, but she wouldn't be thinking about him while sharing a bed with her best friend. She'd only have to shake herself out of the thoughts while they travelled Spira together as a duet. Possibly a trio if Denzel was coming with. Mateus rippled in her mind and bright blue eyes hovered before her until she blinked them away. Cloud was making jokes with his son, not watching her. His shoulders were relaxed instead of battle ready and his shirt was unzipping more and more as they sailed further south. There was a light dusting of hair on his chest, only a bit darker than the hair on his head and neatly trimmed. It hadn't been completely shaved clear as Tidus obsessed over. Nor was it so thick and bushy as Wakka's. She wondered briefly if his shirt might disappear entirely once they arrived on the islands.

"Yuna, will you please tell him that he's wrong?" Denzel frowned at Cloud.

"I wasn't really paying attention," she apologized. "What were we talking about?"

"Denzel thinks he should be allowed to join us as we explore forgotten tombs and labs." Cloud was watching the boy with an unyeilding expression.

"Have you gone exploring tombs before?" Yuna asked. Denzel had not, yet he was fully prepared to argue as to why he should. An argument Yuna stopped when she raised both of her hands to bring peace. "Pacce and his friends have a habit of exploring tombs and ruins around Spira. They fight as a team whereas Cloud and I..." She looked over at the blond and smiled. "You wouldn't be able to get any hits in I'm afraid."

Denzel listened as she told him about Kilika and what Pacce was doing there. She also told him about Dona and Barthello and the endless ruins and jungles on the island. It wouldn't exactly be adventuring through hidden lairs, but it would be filled with a lot of things to do. Dona wasn't the type to let anyone be idle either.

"You've only just turned thirteen. Give it two years, and you'll be as old as my cousin when she became my guardian."

"And as old as Yuffie when she joined Avalanche."

"I two years everything will be finished," Denzel scowled.

"That's what I thought two years ago. And two years before that. Our planet can't really let things settle." Yuna offered him her hand and waited until he took it. "Squire Denzel, I hereby invite you to join in my travels in two years time. With or without Cloud."

The teen seemed just amused enough to shake her hand in agreement. She even got a little smile from him. Cloud wasn't smiling quite as much but even he seemed a little more at ease with the deal. A cheer erupted from a table across the room and the sound of bottles popping told Yuna that the night was far from over. Soon the bawdy lyrics of a camp song were echoing off of the cabin walls. Denzel chose to leave and Yuna fell into step behind him, carrying the writing tools and ink and trying to convince Cloud she would be fine. He needed to relax and take in the culture.

"If you can call tavern wenches and ochu's culture," Yuna frowned at the room behind him. "Go. I'll be in your room with Denzel, doors locked and fully prepared to take down any body snatching pyreflies."

"Why does it sound like you've done that?" Denzel asked.

"I'll tell you about it while we get ready for bed."

~!~!~!~

Can we have a minute to think about the size of Cloud's biceps and how they vary? I mean, from one game to the next, or even just from one concept sketch to another, They go from the size of his head to tiny noodle arms.

Also a comment about 'The Friend-zone'. It's not real. If you know someone 'stuck' in this imaginary area, or complaining about being stuck, tell them to get the fuck over it and move on. If you are that person, be honest. You'll get a lot farther by being upfront about your interest than if you're just 'supportive'. And if you are turned down, get over it. If you have to turn someone down, you can recover from losing them. I promise.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone! So, the map of Spira and all of it's lovely new cities and bays and stuff like that will soon be found on my DA. It was actually kind of a challenge to put some of the cities and town on the map. And even harder to place the new Aeons!

~!~

"Yuna!" Paine's voice called over as they sailed down the eastern coast of Spira. "You've got a call from Rin waiting on the line. Something about the Thunder Plains and your next album."

Yuna looked up from where she was teaching Denzel how to conjugate his verbs. They still had three more days until they hit the next port at Leonis and from there she and Cloud had planned to get an airship down to Luca. When Yuna looked over at her students work, Denzel told her that he wanted to practice on his own. She stood and followed Paine to the communications room. Apparently Rikku had informed Rin that Yuna was nearby and the man decided to call Paine instead of going through Yuna's voicemail.

"Hello uncle," Yuna sat down in front of the sphere. "What's this about a new album?"

"My dear Yuna, you shouldn't pretend like that," Rin smiled at her. His blonde locks were longer now than they had been before but they were also turning a bit silver. "Did you find any inspiration while you were in Zanarkand this time? I notice you've cast aside your lover's braid."

She almost told him no. Almost told him that she was far too busy. She almost ignored his last comment.

"I came to a point where I had to admit a few things to myself. The dreams of a teenage girl with a death wish and the reality of a woman with a future, they couldn't continue to co-exist." Yuna smiled at the realization she'd made while in Picon temple with Cloud. "I'm alive. Why shouldn't I act like it?"

"That is good to know!" Rin clapped from his office. "Now, I do feel rather upset asking this, but our studio in the Thunder Plains is having a bit of trouble. As is the inn and the power station there. There've been attacks by some dreadful creature any time things get too loud."

"Sounds like a reason to have a concert," Yuna smiled.

"It does indeed," Rin agreed. "But, we will need to record those new songs you plan to perform..."

"We'll catch a ride down once we hit Leonis," Yuna agreed. "Until then. Oh, and...could you make sure my apartment is empty? I'd rather not be distracted while I'm there."

Rin agreed to make all the necessary preparations before bidding her safe journey. The sphere clicked off and the guardian who'd followed her from the mess hall came further into the room. He was so quiet sometimes. She'd noticed him rise with her and follow her here but he'd done nothing more than watch and listen as she made her plans with Rin. The blonde swordsman sat down in one of the chairs beside her and leaned back to stare out the window.

"I'll have to get in touch with your uncle to make sure I know our agenda," Cloud spoke. "I don't want someone telling me I can't do my job because I don't have the right paperwork in order or something."

"I can call him back if you'd like," she offered. "Although, I'm a little bit upset I have to share you so soon. It's been nice with just the three of us."

"Soon to be two once we hit Kilika."

They sat like that a bit longer. Watching the waves as the ship sailed further south. Since leaving Picon they'd encountered three pirate vessels. Two smaller scout ships and one of the larger warships. A world without Sin meant a world without death upon the seas. It meant new islands being discovered and settled and new seaside villages and ruined cities pulled up from the dust. But for all of that, there were more bandits and pirates and raids. It seemed a world without Sin meant a world without fear.

"You alright?" Cloud asked.

"Thinking. When Sin was alive, the world seemed to have more order. Now we have to make it for ourselves."

"Oceans rise, empires fall. It's much harder when it's all your call." Cloud stood up and offered his hand to Yuna. "But when push comes to shove, someone stands up and takes action. Or they eat each other alive."

"That doesn't help!" Yuna took his hand and stood up.

"Well, we better find out if there's some threat looming on the horizon."

Paine held her sword against that of Yuna's new guardian. The man was ridiculously strong for being so short. She'd expect this kind of strength from a ronso at the most and had known this kind of strength when she'd fought against the chimera in Macalania. A regular human man didn't have Cloud's skills. If Yuna had beckoned some other kind of hero spirit from the farplanes...

"You seem to be better after ten thousand years in a crystal," Paine smirked as she jumped back from the man. "Good enough to keep her from getting too hurt."

"Well, I'm going to have to get us out of whatever we get in to," Cloud spun his sword before crouching down for the next bout. "Unless I get hurt. Then it's her."

That might have been what Paine liked most about Cloud. He knew Yuna was strong. Out of them all, Yuna had always been the most clever Gullwing. She'd gotten them out of almost every situation by wits, charm, or the sheer dumb luck of being the high summoner. Even that wasn't luck. That had been yet more wit, insanely powerful magic, and a fearsome will to live. Cloud saw that in Yuna and respected it enough to know he wasn't in charge. They were partners. Paine wondered when they'd see it.

"You should have her raise a sword against you," Paine sheathed her blade. Somewhere to the side Yuna's was frowning. "She's not the worst."

"Ah, but Lady Yuna owes me a fight before anyone," Issaru called from the seat beside their high summoner. "I don't believe she's keeping up with her studies."

"Those are fighting words Lord Issaru," Yuna stood from her spot. "You and I have had this coming for quite some time."

Paine knew it was going to be a good fight. Issaru had to have at least some talent and strength if he'd lived in Zanarkand alone for so long. He'd nearly been high summoner himself so his magic was powerful as well. When Yuna summoned her staff there was a sudden tenseness in Cloud's form. As though something were a little too unnerving about the entire situation. It only seemed to get worse when the male summoner removed his outer robes. Left only in his trousers and the thinest of under shirts, he was far more imposing than Paine had guessed. Yuna merely flicked her sleeves around her arms and stood at the ready, her long skirt from her summoner days revealing higher slits along the sides than before.

"She's been training since she was a child," Paine told Cloud. "Both of them have."

It didn't seem to help. The two mages stood there in the breeze waiting for the other to move until a gull swung low between them.

The heavy clang-thunk of steel and wood resounded through the salt air as the sailors and soldiers on deck watched the two of them fight. Not even Paine had really seen Yuna fight with a staff. The occasional hit as she fended off a fiend while in her white or black mage sphere but not once as a fully trained summoner with a staff.

"And here I always saw you with a flowery wand," Issaru teased as he slid back from one of Yuna's strikes.

"It has a flower of it," Yuna pointed out the large lotus blossom on the end of her staff. "Where's your famous tear drop?"

"The teardrop? That was always the blade." Issaru did something and his staff was quite suddenly a wicked looking glaive. Yuna was not afraid though. The lotus blossom staff was heavy and while Issaru's glaive was jabbing into her circle, the weight of the mace like staff deflected them well enough.

"Once upon a time, white mages used hammers. Is that true?" Paine asked Cloud.

"We have the same fairy tail. I don't actually know."

Yuna used the curve of Issaru's weapon and the weight of her own to flip over her fellow summoner. Her booted foot landed upon his back and the man was sent several steps forward into Paine's waiting crew. They pushed him back into the makeshift arena and at least one of them hollered for the man to show her how it was done.

"Indeed Issaru, show me how it's done," Yuna teased.

"Lady Yuna, if we had a week in Luca and a month on Gagazet I could not show you how it was done," Issaru sent one final attack that disarmed Yuna. For all that his weapon was quite quickly out of his own hands and sent into the sky. A quick bout of hand to hand Paine had seen only a few times exchanged between them until the glaive stabbed into the deck and both were forced to move back.

"I yield." Issaru raised his hands. "Though in one month's time, I will expect to see your skills much improved. We are a near match Lady Yuna. One of us must come out on top."

Yuna recovered her staff. "Until then. Let's go back to sitting in the sun and watching the soldiers fight."

"A perfect plan," Issaru laughed as he walked back to his discarded robes. "All this excitement and not a single person to share it with."

Paine had been watching Cloud as much as she'd been watching the fight. At various points in time, when Yuna used one such moved or other he'd begin to tense again. Until she followed up with something he hadn't been expecting that forced him out of his self-imposed nervousness. Yuna had mentioned before that he'd served as a bodyguard to someone before her. The girl had been separated from him or she'd given him the slip or something. Maybe that was what made Cloud nervous. The fear of a second failure.

"Cloud," Pained called him as they watched the next pair of soldiers practice on the deck. Issaru and Yuna had done exactly what they claimed and were now sitting in far less clothing and watching her shirtless soldiers fight.

"Commander." Cloud almost always dressed her by her title.

"Despite the sphere, Yuna isn't some delicate flower. This world is beautiful but she's faced her own share of demons and devils."

"I keep being reminded of that. Against pirates, against fiends, aeons." Cloud's gaze went over to her. "I keep wondering how she can keep smiling."

"She's good at faking it," Paine answered him simply. "They've been pretty genuine since she got on board though." She narrowed her eyes when he turned to face her. "If you fuck this up then I'm going to dump your body where no one will find it." Pained turned and walked towards Yuna and Issaru. For all she was the commander of an army, she admired a strong body as much as the next person and the sun really was lovely right now.

~!~

"Paine scares me," Cloud frowned as they sat at dinner.

"She scares everyone. It's her way of keeping people out." Yuna laughed at the way his frown deepened. "You'll find that a lot of Spirans are distant because of Sin. Her village was destroyed when she was a child and for a long time misfortune followed her. The Djose Massacre, her boyfriend was possessed and shot her, and before she met Rikku and I she ended up getting arrested for a murder she didn't commit."

"The Djose Massacre was when Yevon tried to lure Sin and fight it head on," Denzel remembered his lessons. "Only one in ten volunteers survived."

"One in sixteen," Yuna corrected. "Paine is a little bit scary, but she's one of my best friends. I can't imagine going forward without her, even if our paths move away from each other."

"I didn't think you would. She still scares me. Tifa did too though. And you do now and then." Cloud gave her a crooked grin and Yuna rolled her eyes at him. "I'm sure once you're really angry I'll be terrified."

Paine entered the mess in somewhat less than her official armor and robes, hair mussed and looking much more concerned than usual. She came in just long enough to grab herself something to eat before leaving once more. Something must have come up if she was leaving her soldiers alone for dinner time. Yuna had to know. Through the halls she went with Cloud following behind her and Denzel still in the mess with Maroda and Issaru. There were only a few things that could make Paine focus so intently and ignore everything else. At the top of that list was Nooj and his foolish ideas on leadership. Following close behind was Baralai and his safety. Ten people had survived Sin's destruction of Artemia Valley. Paine and Baralai were two of them.

Yuna didn't wait for Paine to allow her inside of the room they shared. She went straight to the woman's desk and sat down in an empty chair to the side.

"What has he done?" Yuna asked.

"Gippal's workshop in Djose has been getting harassed by members of the Youth League. The Al Bhed have been refusing to take part in the weapons race against True Yevon and Nooj is trying to bully Gippal into taking a stand against Rikku and Cid."

"Harassment doesn't make you stop what you're doing and focus troops on defending Gippal." Yuna thought about what might happen. "Gippal will never go against Cid or Rikku. Not when their engagement has finally been approved."

Paine shook her head before letting Cloud know what that meant. Rikku was the next Minaj of the AlBhed people; it was a matriarchal society and Rikku had finally come of age. Gippal and Rikku had been dancing around each other for decades and last year they'd finally given in and started dating. Come next year, the two of them would be the monarchs of a nation.

"Going against Rikku means going against his queen," Paine summarized. "Rikku and Yuna are both very strong mages. If Gippal sides with Nooj, it means he's backing his anti-magic stance as well."

"Yevon would become violent against the AlBhed again too," Yuna shook her head.

"Sounds like someone needs to sneak in and give him a bit of his own medicine," Cloud crossed his arms. He told them about the jobs he'd done with Avalanche. The destruction of reactors and the chaos he'd caused before he was known as a hero. The same job he had now with a different title. "If I can sneak in to one of the camps, I can set something off."

"If someone sees you then they're going to blame the AlBhed," Paine gestured to his hair. "And if you're running around with Yuna then they'll recognize you."

"What if they don't see us," Yuna steepled her fingers. "What if they only see a strange fishlike creature?"

"Mateus," Cloud caught on.

"No." Paine's tone was firm. In this subject she was unwilling to move or allow anyone else to interfere. "The Youth League has been reckless in recent months and it's time for them to start taking responsibility for their actions."

~!~

Leonis was an amazing city. Cloud could and would acknowledge that immediately. What was once a collection of ruins had been painted in vibrant ocean blue and tawny gold, every stone wall painted bright white and the streets swept each day. The buildings which had fallen over time had been used to repair the ones still standing and little flowers beds formed rings around ancient fruit trees.

"Leonis is regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in Spira," Yuna leaned over. "It's only been a city for two years, but Paine and the Peacekeepers have managed to develop a system to keep everyone happy."

"I don't see any homeless," Cloud peeked down an alley. It was the fifth one they'd passed since landing and even they seemed clean.

"There aren't any," Yuna smiled. "Not here. Do you see the little building in the trees?" Cloud nodded as they passed by. The small treehouses had lines of laundry out to dry and some had window boxes of herbs. "They're responsible for keeping the parks clean and healthy. Any fruit is theirs to keep or sell."

"The city actually works," Cloud shook his head. "So where are we meeting with your cousin?"

"The Celsius is going to land back down by the docks, but I wanted to stretch my legs before they got here."

He couldn't disagree with her on that. Three weeks on a ship with her best friend and about a hundred soldiers hadn't been the greatest experience fresh out of the vats. Denzel and himself had been forced to practice their story over and over, to study hard and stay close to Yuna, and in all of that they hadn't had much time to relax. They had bonded though. Denzel was given the chance to practice his swordsmanship with lots of people. Both of them had been able to practice magic without materia and study with Paine's mages for different ways of finding the 'path' magic went along.

"Yuna!" Denzel called as he saw something in a shop window. "Is that really a Behemouth?"

Cloud was not sure about the bonding experience going on between Yuna and Denzel. Spirans were, for lack of a better word, relaxed. Yuna in particular encouraged people to take charge of their own lives. People like Denzel who was still only just thirteen years old. He was glad they got along. He was. He was just worried that they were going to run off on an adventure one day without telling him.

"Lupus look a little bit like behemouth, but Clasko hasn't managed to breed them down small enough." Yuna thanked the shopkeeper when he handed them one of the small pups. "I think he likes you."

"I don't think I have enough," Denzel shook his head. He was holding the puppy close and the small creature was licking his face with a strangely violet tongue.

"I didn't really get you a birthday present," Yuna argued. "Pick a name for him and I'll take care of it."

Cloud was also a little bit annoyed by things like that. He was glad Denzel was getting a pet to keep him company while Cloud travelled with Yuna but she had a habit of indulging Denzel a lot. Maybe it was making up for the life she'd ignored while training to become a ritual sacrifice.

"He's got some big feet," Cloud leaned down to look at the feisty little creature. "You'll have to be careful training him."

"I will. Tenro is going to be a gentle giant, just watch."

Yuna came back out of the store with a bag in hand and a big smile. Carbuncle was prancing around her feet and carrying a bag of his own between his teeth. The little aqua aeon stopped in front of Denzel and Tenro before letting the small bag rest on the ground. Denzel bent down to inspect them and Tenro poked his nose out to sniff at Carbuncle. Both of the canines sneezed at the scent of the other before deciding they liked each other. They liked each other just enough for Denzel to set his new puppy on the ground so they could play while he looked in the bag.

"He decided to help pick out some supplies for you," Yuna explained. "I tried to pick a nice leather collar but Carbuncle insisted."

"I think Tenro'll like it," Denzel nodded as he pulled the bright silver collar from the bag. The two creatures were running in small circles and a trail of magic was coming off of either one. "Here boy."

The three of them sat in one of the small parks while their companions played or lie in the sunshine. Yuna's cousin had called to let them know it was going to be about an hour more before they could come to get them. Brother had tried to go through the rainstorm instead of around it and now they were resting the engine in the calm lands. Cloud was happy to have real food. Paine's ship had real food, fresh made by the cooks which ShinRa had never done during his soldier days, but there was something about being able to go into a market. Going up to stalls and picking and choosing what you wanted to eat and the farmers and fishermen who had grown or caught it.

"Everything tastes different here," Cloud looked at his sandwich. Fresh baked bread had still been warm from the oven and the cheese was sharp and creamy all at once. The peaches she'd found had come from the very tree they sat under now and Cloud could remember only once tasting something so perfect. "It's nice."

"I'm glad you liked it," Yuna nodded. "I didn't think about it until Paine mentioned that your world wasn't as healthy as ours is now. It's your world too, but centuries have passed. Everything is different."

"Maybe those chambers they had us in helped our systems keep up," Denzel suggested. "If they were able to keep us alive for so long then they must have been able to adapt to what was going on outside."

"Maybe," Yuna agreed.

"Or it has to do with the mako in our bodies," Cloud countered. "Something might have been done when we were taken too."

Something in Yuna's bag began to play a cheerful little tune and their day out came to an end. Her cousin was calling with their ride to the Thunder Plains and soon Denzel would be in Kilika far from them.

"Get your butt down to the docks!" A young woman's voice cried out as Cloud stood upright with the remains of their lunch. "Who's that? Yunie, did you find someone new and didn't tell me?"

Cloud almost laughed at the indignation in the blonde's voice. The sound of a very upset man carried over as well and soon enough all any of them could hear was two siblings fighting over the communicator. He did of course make sure to send the blond woman a wink before things got too out of hand.

"By the time we get there, she'll have won and Brother will be pouting," Yuna sighed as she put the device back into her pocket.

"Brother?" Denzel asked.

"Cidolphus the Second, for some reason everyone decided to call him Brother in stead of Junior." Yuna offered to take a bag and instead only had Carbuncle climbing into her arms for a kiss. "Silly thing. We better get moving before the entire town gets turned inside out. She never gives up if she wants something."

~!~

When Yuna saw the celisuis it was like coming home. She could hear Rikku inside of the bay and Paine was leaning against a crate outside of the ship while Buddy spoke with the harbor master. Barkeep and Sweetie were talking to a supplier about vegetables and both waved when they saw Yuna. Buddy gave her a smile and a nod in greeting. Paine's smirk grew into a full grin as the three of them came over to her.

"Rikku's been yelling at Brother for almost an hour according to Buddy. He's going to try and push your new guardian off of the flight deck." Paine's armor was absent and she was back in the black leather she'd worn so long ago. She looked better this way. More at ease with herself and her surroundings.

"Rikku?" Cloud asked. "I thought your cousin was coming to pick us up."

"Rikku is my cousin," Yuna blinked at him. "Oh! Oh, I can see where you might be confused. Rikku is the Minaj of her people, and her father was my mother's little brother."

"Lady Leikku abdicated the throne for Yuna's father, a Yevonite Summoner." Paine almost sounded whimsical about the idea. Yuna had only heard her friend sound whimsical a few times in her life, and once had been under the influence of copious amounts of alcohol. Maybe seeing the Celsius had made her a little nostalgic as well. "Belive me, Rikku is nothing like you'd imagine an empress to. She's so much more."

"Denzel, how do you feel about tagging along to the Thunder Plains before Kilika?" Cloud asked. He was holding Tenro close and the small pup was too tired to bother exploring or sniffing around the docks. "We'll probably be able to get some real practice in with that sword."

"Really?" Denzel looked back and forth between Yuna and Cloud for reasons unknown. She hadn't had anything to do with this one. "Yeah! Of course!" The young man hurried onto the ship and a faint apology was heard before he disappeared from sound and sight.

"Squire Denzel seems to be moving up in the ranks," Yuna held back a small smile.

"It seemed like a waste of a trip," Cloud shrugged before he followed after his son. "I'll get this thing with Rikku over with. Brother...he's not even a concern."

Yuna watched as he went into the ship she loved. He was a very attractive man from behind as well.

"You're drooling," Paine teased.

"Oh shut up. I have a type."

"Moody, blonde, and wielding a sword while speaking about freedom and love? I hadn't noticed." Even though her words were cutting, they were spoken with love. The general stood upright and embraced Yuna one more time. "Be careful. This is a lot more dangerous than Vegnagun and Sin."

"I know," Yuna admitted into her friend's hair. "I wish you could come with us."

"There would be too much attention," Paine backed away. When she was just at elbows length away Paine spoke again. "Cloud already has tongues wagging. Rikku can't know until the end. If I joined in then there would be an inquisition and we'd go to war as the factions hunted for the aeons of Zanar."

"Cloud and I decided to use my new album release as an excuse to travel around," Yuna nodded. "The rumors that started up can only help us as we travel."

Paine did come onto the ship with them to say hello to Rikku, however, Cloud was still the center of attention. He was being circled by the blonde princess while Brother lie tied up on the hard steel grating of the bridge. Denzel was sitting with his pup in a corner with another young blonde.

"Shinra?" Yuna went over to the young men. "You've had your ceremony and didn't tell me?"

"I haven't had it yet," Shinra shook his head. As he did, the endless blonde locks behind him floated as well. "The cutting ceremony isn't until my birthday next month, but Rikku and Brother are letting me go without the suit while I'm on board."

"The cutting ceremony is a symbol of adulthood?" Denzel asked.

"It is. But I like having my hair long."

"Can you get away with only cutting a little bit of it off?"

"I don't think anyone has ever asked."

Yuna smiled and went to rescue Cloud while the boys planned out hwo they were going to subvert the system. He didn't look like he needed rescuing if she was honest. He looked like he was having fun. His sword was still untouched for one, and he had his usual almost smile that Yuna had learned to identify. So long as that was there, he was just fine. Rikku however wasn't quite as happy with his responses.

"Rikku, this is Sir Cloud. We're touring through Spira together while my album is being released."

"But Yunie! Why didn't you call me? Or Wakka and Lulu? Or Khimari?"

"Because my guardians have their own lives." Yuna took Rikku's hand into her own and gave her cousin the smile that was sure to win this battle. "I couldn't possibly take you away from Gippal and our people. And Vidina is learning to walk soon, Wakka and Lulu can't miss that."

"What about Khimari?" Rikku tried again.

"Khimari is about to become a proud father himself." Paine's farewell line was so quietly delivered and a such a silent moment that Yuna almost shrank back the the tandem squeal that came from both Brother and Rikku. The commander gave a small wave to anyone as she left the bridge with her desired interaction from friends.

"You must not take Khimari from his son!" Brother popped up from where he'd been laying down.

"It's going to be a girl!" Rikku shouted back.

Yuna backed up and joined Cloud at one of the forgotten consoles while the siblings argued in albhed and in the common tongue. Standing inside of an airship seemed a bit more fitting for the man than standing in the wild landscapes of Leonis, Aerion, and Picon. Perhaps it was his clothing but the way he held himself demanded that he be at the frontline of a conflict. The bright green, blue, and red lights of the ships controls seemed to be just right for him. Being in a ship seemed to make him more at ease.

"Ed'c kuehk du pa dfehc," Cloud called into the conflict. "One girl, one boy."

"He speaks the tongue!" Brother crowed. "I like this one more, but I will still try to kill him. It is tradition!"

"That's actually true," Yuna shook her head. She looked at both of her cousins and explained what she and Cloud were doing. "He and his son had made a pilgramage into Zanarkand. We all got a little bit lost and ended up in a set of ruins I'd never known about."

"Paine says it's called Aerion Palace," Rikku glanced to try and find said woman. "She left! Aerion Palace, I don't suppose it's open for exploration yet?"

"Cloud and I were thinking about using it as a base for now. Issaru and a few other summoners have gathered there as well." Yuna looked at her cousin. "It's a kind of sanctuary for summoners right now."

"I see. And the Ex doesn't know where it is either." Rikku gave Yuna a double take as she noticed Yuna's hair was unbound. "You gt rid of it?"

"We're dropping it off in Bevelle one we get up there," Cloud spoke up. "I tried to get her to burn it."

"I like him," Rikku nodded. "Alright then, now that Brother has been kicked out of the pilot's chair, I'm going to take us down to the Thunder Plains!"

Yuna pulled Cloud to sit down while Rikku bounded over to the controls for the ship. Buddy had returned and taken his own helm at some point and Shinra had hurried Denzel to sit as Rikku started up the engine. It wasn't that Rikku was a bad pilot. She was a lot like Brother in recklessness though. She wouldn't go through a storm, but she might try to fly over it and that could end just as badly. Not even Carbuncle seemed eager to pop out into the world of the living, and Tenro, te little pup seemed content to sit in Denzel's shirt.

"He's not very good at flying, is he?" Rikku asked as Cloud emptied his stomach onto the dirt. The rumbling echo of thunder was all around them but it seemed almost second tier to the blonde man bent over a rock puking.

"Neither are you," Yuna teased. "He didn't manage very well on Paine's boat either. Not until one of her medics gave him motion sickness pills."

"I'll try to drive gently for little baby cloud from now on," Rikku giggled. Cloud's retching increased and both of the women cringed. "Really, I'll try to be a little more careful. A guardian's no good if he can't do his job."

Yuna focused her magic on the man and cast a very lightly powered Esuna upon him. There was a slight groan and whatever had been trying to come up remained. Yuna cast the spell upon him perhaps five or six times before he seemed back to himself.

"I miss my bike," Cloud burped as the small group stood on the outskirts of the small town that had sprung up around Rin's travel agency. "Not once did I get sick on Fenrir."

"Gippal's newest research shop is right next to the power station here in the thunder plains," Rikku offered. "It's mostly AlBhed people here, and there's a steadier stream of electricity here than in Djose. His new guy might have come up with something you'd like."

"Fewer Youth League members here too," Cloud exhaled deeply. "We'll swing by after we deal with whatever's been harassing the town. What is this town's name anyway?"

"Caprica," Rikku smiled. "We named it after the old power station."

"Caprica Town," Yuna looked around the place. The last time she had come through with the Gullwings it had still just been Rin's travel agency and business had been on the downslide. Now that the AlBhed were using the natural power source to further their research and power their inventions, it was turning into a lovely little town. It was still grey and a little bit gloomy, but it was a more romantic and exciting sort of gloom. "Thank you for bringing us here Rikku. We'll be sure not to mention the faction outside of the town's walls."

"Don't sweat it," Rikku shrugged. "Worry about getting this album out before the wedding. I need my shadow bride!"

Yuna laughed at her cousin and the two embraced before Rikku went back onto her ship. They had been waiting for Shinra and Denzel to finally part ways and now the two boys seemed to have the others contact information.

"It's good to see he's making friends," Cloud watched as his son shook hands with the blonde. "I wonder what's going to happen when Pacce joins them on adventures."

~!~

Cloud liked Caprica Town more than many of the other places they'd gone so far. It was familiar in a way. It wasn't as populated as Leonis or Edge, but it had the feeling of being alive and the non-stop energy of a city. Actually, Caprica didn't seem to have very many people in it at all. Enough that Denzel could explore the town alone without worry and few enough that when he and Yuna walked to Rin's recording stuido he could watch her without people whispering.

He liked seeing her hair down more than pulled back into the tight braid or bound by the red cord. The lightning would flash and all of the colors that made her up would change for just a second. Maybe Mateus had done something to them but he'd thought Yuna was beautiful when he first woke up back in Aerilon. She was strong too. Goddess he'd feared what would happen when she pulled out her staff against Issaru. He should have known better though. He'd fought beside her through Aerilon and seen her cast powerful spells against her foes. They'd stood side by side against Mateus and soon they'd be fighting another foe as well.

"Cloud, wasn't Caprica on the old map?"

Cloud was surprised she'd say something about their mission in such a crowded place like the Inn. Then again, the inn was filled with blondes like himself and brunettes who didn't look too different from Yuna. Bi colored eyes or bright blue or neon green or spiralling all around. AlBhed and those who had an AlBhed parent were all around them. Completely uncaring about whatever it was He and Yuna were about to do.

"We can check once we get to our room," Cloud nodded. "I think I saw it though. Caprica and something else."

"We'll have to check after we meet with Rin. He's in the studio next door." Yuna gave him the message Rin had left with the front desk. He'd taken care of quite a few things, including laundry needs, food, and accommodations for Denzel and his new puppy. Rikku, it seemed, was every bit the gossip Yuna had claimed. "We can drop our things off and shower once we get back."

"Hm. I thought we were going to be in Luca when we did this?"

"I don't know," Yuna shook her head. "Uncle Rin has always done things his own way."

She was smiling about it though. This smile seemed a little different than some of the others. He'd seen something close to it when Paine had been joking with her, and something that could have been the same when she had fought with Issaru.

"Were you and your uncle close growing up?"

"Uncle Rin wrote most often. He was always telling me about some new adventure or idea he had. When Fidelius and I eloped he helped us. Even though it wasn't proper, and even though he knew it wouldn't end well, he's always supported me in every decision." Her smile was genuine Cloud realized. And he had seen it just one other time as they sat on the steps of Picon temple after Mateus had joined them. "So, if he has a strange request, or he wants to try something new, I'm always there for him too."

Denzel didn't want to come with them. He wanted to learn about the AlBhed and their customs so he could talk more easily to Shinra when they met again. Those gathered around the Inn's many tables seemed all too happy to help him; it wasn't every day a couple of half AlBhed came in with a child. Cloud was told that even if Yuna wasn't his mother, she was close enough to Denzel and the High Summoner besides. The least they could do was help the kid learn about his world.

"I feel bad. They haven't figured out we're not AlBhed." Cloud was following Yuna to a very sleek looking stone building.

"They know. But you don't look fully Hume either. AlBhed can sort of...it sounds weird, but we can sort of sniff out the differences." Yuna looked over at him for just a second as a bright blush appeared on her cheeks. "I don't know why. The Ronso can't really tell the difference and the Guado tell us apart by other means. The Hypello too."

"I fought someone who could do that," Cloud pursed his lips. "I've been noticing that most of the people in Spira seemed to be descended of those who had Mako treatments. It's a sort of hyper concentrated lifestream. Like, the opposite f pyreflies. It takes a lot of pyre flies to reflect a persons soul, but mako is the concentrated essence of hundreds or even thousands of souls."

"Didn't you say that of your cities ran on mako?" Yuna frowned.

"Most people didn't realize what it was," Cloud sighed. "Not even I did until later."

"So, Spirans have an excess of soul," Yuna looked up to the sky. It was still cloudy but the lightning seemed to be at rest for the moment. "Maybe it will make sense after. For now though, it's not that important."

"We have other things to worry about," Cloud agreed.

The lobby of the studio Rin had built was as odd as the outside of the building. Unlike his Inn with it's bright colors, welcoming music, and buzz of laughter, this place was in rich earth tones with bright blue or gold spanning through the rock walls and floor. It was almost like small paths of pateria all around them. In fact, Cloud was willing to bet that spheres and materia were one and the same.

"The stone has veins of sphere-cryst running through it." The smooth and welcoming tone of a man came from behind them. He looked to be in the prime of his life though what he'd hought was quite pale blonde hair revealed itself to be more silver than gold. He was still quite muscular and judging by the twin pistols behind the desk and the snub nosed shotgun under his arm, he was still in fighting form. "I find it soothes my artists and creates a better sound while recording."

"Uncle," Yuna smiled and moved forward to hug him.

"It is good too see you my dear," he embraced her. "I hope I'm not helping you elope a third time."

"We took care of that already," Cloud smiled. "We're just here for the album."

"Rin, this is Cloud. He's my new guardian." Yuna moved back so the two of them could shake hands.

"It's good to know where she got her love of firearms from," Cloud shook Rin's hand. He was right. Despite his age the man had a firm grip and a will to match. He could feel the familiar sensation of a libra spell rolling over him. "I'll make sure she always comes home in one piece."

"Yuna thinks with her heart," Rin hummed. His eyes were a darker shade of green than Rikku's and Brother's. His skin just a bit more tanned and his frame a bit stockier. "I hope you're prepared for that."

"Maybe Ill learn some pointers." Cloud felt Rin release his hand and saw the genuine smile he'd come to associate with Yuna. Why were so many of this family's grins and laughs so practiced?

"You told me you've written some songs," Rin turned to face their summoner. "I must hear one!"

Cloud sat in the sound booth with Rin and two others while Yuna sang. This was one of those moments where her happiness and joy weren't forced. Except, the song she was inging sounded like it could be happier. It was a happy song, but the tempo was off.

"Yuna," he hit the button that would allow her to hear him. She looked up from the sheet she'd been scanning over. Apparently she was feeling something off as well. "What if we add some drums and speed it up a little bit?"

"Do ou think so?"

"Can't hurt to try."

By dinner time Cloud had realized he wasn't half bad at helping out in the studio. He seemed good enough that Rin had in fact left a half hour into the session. Good enough that when Rin came back with dinner and Denzel, the man asked if Cloud would rather take over the position. He was already Yuna's Primero Guard, for him to take part in this was only natural.

"I don't know what this is, but I love it," Denzel said around a mouthful of food. "I should learn to cook, just so I can make this."

"It is made from the gizzards of Zu," Rin smiled.

"I'm completely fine with everything you just said," Denzel took another bite. The boy really was growing up. Cloud was certain he would grow by the time They reached Kilika.

"Perhaps I can find a place for you to learn at the Inn while Yuna and Cloud continue here? It is never good to be an adventurous boy with nothing to do."

"Maroda found a sword for me," Denzel swallowed his food. "Paine taught me some stuff, and Cloud taught me a few other things."

Cloud chose to explain what had truly happened. Being stuck on a Peacekeeper vessel for two weeks meant he'd spent a lot of time training with the crew and the soldiers on board. Denzel had been part of their morning practice routine but he'd still gone downstairs when real attacks happened.

"I see," Rin put a finger against his lips. Cloud could see where Yuna had picked the habit up. "Yes, I believe Rook would appreciate Denzel's help very much in the kitchen."

~!~

"This doesn't look like a kitchen," Denzel followed Rin and Rook downstairs.

After dinner both Cloud and Yuna had gone back into the studio and Rin had brought Denzel back to the Inn. Except Rin hadn't just brought him back, he told Denzel to get his sword and come to the kitchen. Rook reminded Denzel of Tseng in build and demeanor. He had dark hair but his eyes were a sort of teal and spiraled every so faintly like Yuna's did. He didn't wear a suit like the turk did but he did have a pair of dark pants and what might have once been a dress shirt on. It was covered by the man's apron.

"It's the pantry," Rook crossed his arms. "I'm having a problem with the pests and Rin says you want to learn to cook. So, you come down here, see if that sword is any good, and then come upstairs and learn."

"I have to kill a bunch of rats?"

"Son, if you can't handle killing a rat, how am I supposed to trust you to butcher a chicken?"

Rook didn't wait for an answer, instead he went back upstairs with Rin, asking in rapid AlBhed about getting some fresh produce shipped in from some place Denzel had never heard of. The man made sense though. Plus, training a little bit was better than not training at all and Shinra wasn't any good with a sword so one of them had to be. He kept hearing about Pacce but even that guy didn't use a sword, he used a spear. Denzel turned sharply when he heard something scuttle by. Something that sounded just a little bit bigger than a rat.

Of course he followed it. That's what he came here to do.

"That's not a rat!" Denzel cried. The creature saw him but instead of running, it attacked.

A strange crablike, almost lobster-ish creature that scuttled back and forth before pinching at him and letting out a horrible high pitched shriek.

"You're not going to scare me off," Denzel gripped his sword tighter.

~!~

"Cloud, I don't know what's wrong," Yuna leaned back in her seat. They had made a lot more progress in this one day than she'd made in the last few months. Except for this one song. Ten songs had been finished but this one...

"Well, we could leave it on the table," Cloud frowned as it played on. "Come back to it later."

"I'll be thinking about it until we finish," Yuna shook her head.

"That's okay. It gives you something to think about besides our journey."

What was it about Cloud that neither Tidus nor Fidelius seemed to have had? Maybe it was the way he didn't put her on a pedestal. He didn't know her as Braska's daughter or the sweet sacrifice. Cloud barely understood what she was as the High Summoner. He knew, but he didn't seem concerned about the way she behaved. Then again, he'd saved their world countless times before his slumber. It had been a long time since someone looked at her and saw an equal.

"It's almost three in the morning," Cloud sat upright in his seat. "Let's get back to the inn, sleep on it, and come back after we go look for Caprica's ruins."

"Whatever you say Mister Producer," Yuna teased.

The inn was dead when they came in. Only a single clerk at the desk who was dozing lightly and a cat that was watching them from the mantle.

"Which one is our room?" Cloud asked. "We didn't exactly have stuff to put away."

"Room 213," Yuna read her key. "I hope he didn't give us the room with only one bed. I had to beg Rikku to share with me during the pilgrimage, and when it was the three of us, Rikku, Paine, and myself, it was horribly cramped."

"Think about our luck for a second," Cloud followed along behind her on the way to their room.

He was right. It wasn't a bad room really. The paint on the walls didn't smell funny and the colors were soft and welcoming. There was a small desk and chair beside the window and the view was really quite beautiful in the dawn and at sunset. A vast canyon where lightning elementals roamed and fog roiled around tall spires crackling with electricity. There just wasn't enough room for more than one bed inside, so Rin had put in one fairly large one. Denzel must have ended up in the single room down the hall. Yuna could remember Auron taking that room. Unwilling to spend more time than he needed with the excitable teenagers and dour twenty-somethings.

"Do you snore?" Cloud asked as he began to kick off his boots.

"No, do you steal the blankets?" Songstress or summoner, Yuna had to agree that shoes had to go. Seeing him start to relax made her a bit nervous though. In the two years she'd tried to work things out with Tidus there had been one constant distance between them in bed.

"Nope." Cloud meandered over to the dresser on one side of the room and pulled the drawers open. "At least there's pajamas. I'll stay out here and keep an eye on the door."

He sat down on the bed with what he'd pulled out and waited for her to chose something. Her uncle knew her too well. Especially when she found that he'd stocked her favorite toiletries in the bathroom as well. She smiled and the unease of sharing a bed with Cloud began to fade. For a moment. She'd only known him a total of three weeks. They'd never shared a cabin on Paine's ship and when they had spent time together it had been in the mess hall or in Paine's office. Or in the park. But they'd been alone in the studio...and a wall of glass had been between them as she sang along with recording devices and cameras. No. She was stronger than that. She'd overcome three husbands, saved the world multiple times, and had aeons again.

There was a soft ripple in the back of her mind and Mateus woke up. She shared an aeon with Cloud. A link with him that neither had chosen but had been gifted to them. Cloud had sworn to stay by her side and protect her before they'd so much as left Zanar's room.

Yuna smoothed the front of the nightgown Rin had left for her and checked to see if her hair was behaving.

Cloud was sitting at the desk when she came out. He was a very handsome man and she was almost upset with his choice to wear pants. She'd spent most of her life around topless or near topless men but seeing Cloud lounge in a pair of thin cotton sleeping pants was different. They were in a deep rich purple that was nearly the same color as the scrap of his old uniform. Without his black vest she could see a soft tufts of hair on his chest. That soft blonde hair that didn't scream gold or lay sullen dishwater. It curled ever so slightly along his chest and down his abs. She thanked every pyrefly and aeon that he wasn't looking her way as she admired him.

"I'm going to put my things outside the door for laundry service," Yuna found her voice.

Cloud looked away from the window and the thoughts of his friends to see his summoner standing by the bathroom door. He hadn't been paying much attention to anything besides the dark purple pants but she'd walked out in the softest and most delicate looking nightgown he'd ever seen. It was too short, the neckline too deep, and the fabric too thin for him to think of anything appropriate for several breaths. So he made a grunting sound to whichever question she'd asked and watched as she crossed the room and bent to pick up his soiled clothing from the floor.

It wasn't that he'd never seen the shapes and contours of her body. The shorts she wore as she gunned down her foes showed just as much of her behind as the nightgown did. Both the gunner's shirt and her summoner's blouse showed more of her skin than this nightgown.

"I think I could sleep for three days," Yuna yawned as she climbed beneath the covers. "Will you turn the light out?"

"Yeah," Cloud nodded. If the light was out he couldn't actually forget how to speak at the sight of her. He'd just have to lay skin to skin with her in the bed. "Just in case I, I've heard I tend to get close to people in my sleep."

"You like to cuddle," Yuna smiled. "So do I. It's alright. Really."

Falling asleep had been awkward enough for Cloud but the consistent thunder and heavy fall of the rain lulled he and Yuna to sleep almost as soon as they climbed in. It was waking in the middle of the night that made him aware of how close they'd been. Yuna was in his arms, soft breath fanning against his collar bone while hands rest upon his chest. One of his arms had wrapped about her shoulders while another held her leg on his hip. A leg that was wrapped around him quite securely. Cloud hadn't really registered the intimacy of their embrace until he heard the second shout outside of their window. He extracted himself from their position and moved closer to the window to listen for it again. Something down in the canyon was making that terrible screaming sound. Thunder crashed once more and Cloud frowned at the idea it might fall silent again.

"Cloud?" Yuna's voice mumbled behind him. "Come back to bed."

"I heard something in the canyon," he spoke softly. He somehow felt Yuna begin to focus and wake up behind him; despite the oddity of the situation _that_ had felt like the most normal and natural thing since he'd woken up in the palace. The sound echoed again. "There."

"I've never heard a fiend like that." Yuna was getting up from the bed as another powerful clap of thunder echoed through the plains and canyon both. She came to stand beside him a moment later and both of them waited for the next cry. "It's getting fainter."

"The thunder is getting louder," Cloud folded his arms in front of himself. "More often too."

"It's the storm. Every morning at 4am."

Cloud frowned as the rain began to fall in an onslaught. It echoed off of the roof above them and pelted the window in front of him violently. Even if the creature was still out there, they wouldn't be able to hear it or see it coming. He looked over at Yuna and the feeling of normalcy and exhaustion tugged at his brain. Seeing her in the soft white nightgown made him want to hold her in bed once more.

"We'll see what happens tomorrow," Yuna set a hand on his arm.

He merely nodded and followed her back to bed. Neither one pretended to take their own side as they settled down. She merely set her back against his chest and he wrapped his arms around on reflex. Cloud tried to think of the last time he'd held someone as they slept. He and Tifa had never really cuddled up when they tried to date. She liked to sleep unhindered and tended to pull away in the night. Sometimes she'd kick or thrash and Cloud would end up reacting in turn. Towards the end they slept in separate beds. The journey with Aerith had never resulted in staying the night in one another's bed.

"Four months." Yuna's voice was soft in the night. "Tidus was cheating on me with this other woman about four months before it ended. That's when we stopped sharing a bed."

"How long has it been since?"

"Almost half of a year," she sighed. After a deep breath she relaxed against him a little bit more.

"I've got you beat then. It's been centuries."

"Go to bed old man," Yuna teased.

~!~

~!~!~!~

It really didn't make sense to me that there was so much empty space on Spira and only a few cities and stuff until I realized any place without a temple wouldn't be on the pilgrimage trail and wouldn't be considered as important. Not to mention Sin coming through and destroying so many towns all the time, Bevelle may have chosen to simply ignore the small farmsteads and towns.

Anyway! Picon Bay is that nice big open bay up by Zanarkand just above the Calm Lands on the East/right side of the map. Leonis is further south, parallel with Bevelle but further East and closer to the Omega ruins. Aphrodin Village is at the very end of the Moonflow as it heads towards the thunder plains. It will make So much more sense once I finish making the map, I promise.


	4. Chapter 4

What on Spira had happened?

Yuna was watching as Cloud and Denzel sat down at one of the inn's many tables for breakfast. Denzel looked as though he'd been up half the night and his clothing was obviously borrowed. She knew why she and Cloud had been awake for so long but hadn't Denzel been in the kitchens? She glanced over at Rin and found him smiling as he spoke to Rook.

"How were cooking lessons?" Cloud asked as Denzel began to drift asleep again.

"I was hunting breakfast last night," the pre-teen spoke around a wide yawn.

"You were what?" Cloud asked. Yuna looked down at their plates and almost smiled to know exactly what had happened last night. The same thing Rin had helped her do for many years. The result was different of course, Yuna had learned to heal and wield a staff while Denzel learned to cook and hunt fiends.

"I have the feeling Rook's stock of Kingler escaped their tank and Denzel had to hunt them down." Yuna speared a chunk of her boullabaise and tasted the shellfish stew. "Did you help to cook this?"

"I did," Denzel grinned sleepily. "His last kitchen assistant let the kingler loose before he quit and they've been over breeding in the stock room."

"I suppose you've got to learn to fight somewhere," Cloud shook his head before taking a bite as well. "It's good. Really good."

"Rook did most of it, I just did the prep work," Denzel began to blush. Just a little bit.

Yuna looked back to her uncle and Rook and gave the both of them a smile of thanks. Denzel had surely been going mad from boredom. Tonight she needed to make sure he'd been hunting in the basement just as they would be in the canyon. The trick was trying to get to the being before the storm came in. If she and Cloud hadn't managed to find and fight the being they'd be stuck in the elements and in a tremendous amount of danger. There was a reason no one had gone down into the canyons in the many centuries they'd existed. The fiends there were older and larger than any in memory. In the rare event they got out the Thunder Plains were entirely uninhabitable until they fell down once more. Four times in recorded history had they escaped and each time it had been Sin to defeat one.

"The last time a creature of the canyon escaped into the thunder plains, my father was six years old." Yuna could only just remember her father telling her the tale. "He and his family had just made it out of the plains and when he turned back to look he saw it. A fiend larger than any Xu or great beast and covered in crimson scales."

"Then we stock up and head down only when the storm is over." Cloud frowned and leaned back in his seat while Denzel continued to pour over the recipe Rook had brought over to him.

"The next storm is going to start in an hour," Yuna agreed. "I wonder...if the creature screams before the storm."

"Worth a listen," Cloud agreed. "This time of day though, all we're going to hear is the machine shop."

Yuna frowned and leaned back in her seat while Denzel rushed back to Rook to ask about something he'd read. Cloud was watching the boy with affection and not for the first time she had to admire the man.

"Were there any shrines of heroes in Caprica?" Cloud asked.

"None that I saw, but Caprica doesn't really have any mention of a temple or of being a stronghold." Yuna pulled the old diaries from her hip and set it on the table. "I actually wanted to ask you about something." The blonde man looked at her and waited. "If we're going to wait until evening to listen again, and then we'd have to head out tomorrow, I'd like to spend today relaxing."

"We're not going back into that studio." Cloud gave her a small smirk.

"I wasn't," Yuna shook her head at him. He'd caught her just a little bit. "The thunder plains is where most of my concerts are held. It's where I do most of my work as a singer. It's difficult to be here and _not_ think about being in the studio."

"Then let's start exploring the canyon early. As soon as this storm clears up we'll go look around."

"That sounds like fun," Yuna agreed. "We'll have a contest to see who can defeat the most elementals."

Cloud knew that Yuna was skilled in both magic and gunplay. He'd seen her fight with a staff on the deck of the Peacekeeper vessel. He hadn't seen her in her gunner outfit. She'd always dressed in some version of a summoner's robes. A shorter version or a more covering version, but some sort of kimono graced her form. This was going to be distracting for a little bit.

"I haven't worn this in a while," Yuna stretched as they stood at the mouth of the canyon. "It's nice to get rid of the robes though."

"You ready to go down?" Cloud asked and regretted.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

He went first. Down the sloping path that soon turned into a series of rocky cliffs. At some point their climb down became something of a race to see who could reach the bottom first without disrupting the landscape. Twice she cut in front of him using magic and about three times he resorted to using his mako enhanced speed and balance to get ahead of her. Not that it ever lasted for very long. The people of Spira were descended of the survivors of Gaia and by no means weak.

He did manage to get to the bottom before her but hardly a second after his feet touched the ground he found himself catching her.

"A guardian should always be there to catch his summoner," she teased as he held her. "I haven't had that much fun in a while."

"I'm sure it's going to be less fun climbing out of here." He turned to face them towards the crevice that would take them deeper into their new playground. "But we still have some games to play."

The canyon itself was different from the rest of the Thunder Plains. The stone wasn't as grey, but somewhat bluish in color and coated in a thin film of mold or subtle layers of lichen and moss. It was colder as well, though it wasn't the damp chill of the plains. This was dry and brittle. The many elementals they crossed paths with increased that sensation but it was something Yuna called an Aka Manah that truly made Cloud feel odd. Something demonic in appearance that almost resembled Chaos and gave them far more trouble than he wanted. Incredibly powerful, extremely tall, and fearsome with their own magic prowess.

"Is this a species or a race we're fighting?" Cloud asked as he dodged a hit from the being. It was decided that these more troublsome fiends weren't a part of the game.

"Both," Yuna ducked under a bladed wing. "They're envoys from the Farplane who've become" she barely had time to fling a spell back at the being "tainted by Sin and their time on spira."

"I thought," Cloud ducked under the being's arm-blade and slashed across it's chest. A chilling scream echoed through the hollow they fought in and Cloud thought back to last night. It wasn't the same scream but it was close. "Aren't fiends just people who never went to the farplane?"

"Daeva are different. They're denizens of the Farplane. They keep order amongst those who've yet to accept their death." Yuna leaned against a pillar of stone to catch her breath. "The exact story is a mystery, but the more time they spend surrounded by tainted pyreflies, the more aggressive they become. At least, that's what Shinra said."

The child had been researching fiends and when they'd encountered one of the daeva a link had formed between them. That was the last fiend Shinra researched and from that encounter they'd learned more than enough of the duty carried out by the spellspinners. Daeva were born in the very depths of the Lifestream beneath the Farplane. It was their sole purpose to keep the two separate and the ensure the souls of the dead remained pure. The sorrows and darkness would be absorbed by the daeva until they could take no more.

"Too much time shepherding the Farplane or Lifestream and they get kicked up here," Cloud frowned as they continued through the crooked paths of stone. Every so often they would stumble across a set of ancient and petrified trees. Every leaf upon them frozen by time and calcium. "This place feels different."

"The only pyreflies we've seen have come from the Elementals," Yuna pointed out. "Even the trees are empty of them."

"There's no life here." Cloud looked over at her and frowned. Was this part of Gaia that hadn't recovered? In thousands of years... "Pull out the map real quick?"

He was standing in Midgar. Or as close to Midgar as could be. Up above the Thunder Plains screamed and stormed in an endless cycle while not even death waited beneath. As quickly as he could make his mind work, he focused on where they were as compared to where Seventh Heaven would be. At the other end of the canyon. Yuna followed him as he began to trek from sector three over to the place he'd once lived. She somehow knew that he had stumbled across something familiar to him as he began to wander through the now familiar 'streets' of a long dead city. Her gun was always ready and her eyes keeping watch for fiends.

"This is Sector Five," Cloud told her when they reached their first destination. Hours had passed since they entered and the rain had drifted in and out as clouds passed over head. The few raindrops that had fallen around them had flushed with a bright green light before fading away. The planet was still trying to heal this forgotten tumor.

"You know this place?" Yuna asked.

"Yeah." Ahead of them was something that could have been a cave once upon a time. It could have been any number of things but Cloud knew. "It used to be a church."

The two of them walked further into the ruins and for the first time since entering this canyon they saw something living. Hundreds of bright white and gold flowers surrounded the remains of the Buster Sword. Strange glyphs had been carved into the steel and it was undoubtedly their presence that had sustained this place for so long. Frozen in time by the same magic and technology that had held him in stasis. Yuna walked behind him slowly but with a different sort of intent behind it. This was something from before. A place that represented a terrible past and something not meant to be.

"The water here could heal anything," Cloud crouched by it's surface. "Aerith's last gift."

"I feel like I shouldn't be here," Yuna shook her head. "It's not my place."

"We probably shouldn't. She would have liked you though." He looked out across the water and at the Buster Sword once more. Had those who'd taken Cloud they done this for him, thinking it was his place? Or had the scions known it was for Zack and Aerith? "We should head back to the inn. We're running low on supplies."

The journey back was a struggle for the two of them. As night fell the fiends grew stronger and more aggressive. The spellspinners began to act differently, interacting with one another in a strangely casual way the implied more than a basic sentience. It was when they formed small groups and spoke in a chilling warble that Yuna and Cloud elected to move with stealth over speed. They would need far more daylight to find the being they sought out and Cloud needed more control of his magic. They were only a few shorts yards away from the cliff that would take them home when Cloud felt something stalking them. It had been a sensation that had followed him from the church but only now did he worry it wasn't one of the beings they'd been fighting. This moved too silently and with too much intent. What sort of intent he couldn't say but in such a dark and violent place he wouldn't imagine it was anything benign.

"How much do you have left?" Cloud asked quietly as the two of them entered the small vale before their escape.

"Twelve bullets," she answered in a voice so soft he might not have heard it. She didn't jump in alarm or alter any action when he asked. Her shoulders were no less tense than they had been before as they walked from the church and ran from their foes. "Enough magic, Mateus and Carbuncle."

Cloud sincerely hoped they wouldn't need the dual aeon. The grip on his sword tightened only a slight amount but those small muscles in his fingers and the shift of his shoulders was enough to bring the creature out of the shadows. Yuna's magic created a barrier around them that lessened the strike but the shock of _who_ attacked them caused Cloud to lessen his defense.

The yellow gold eyes that burned in the night still glowered out from the corpse grey skin and cold flesh of a man he'd known. A golden claw gripped the blade impatiently while the gun in his hand remained by the being's side.

"Vincent," Cloud grit as he shoved the man backwards.

"Cloud," Yuna held her gun at the ready beside him. "The storm."

Chaos watched them both as they stood beside one another, only tilting it's head at the sound of Cloud's name and the unnerving and high pitched warble that came from deep within the grave of Midgar. Standing within the canyon made the sound all the worse as it echoed through and was joined by the daeva. Vincent did not cry out with them.

"Vincent, I don't have time for this," Cloud held his sword out. The being across from him didn't blink. It didn't move. "I know you're not Chaos or you'd have killed us already."

"Try not to give him ideas," Yuna spoke from behind him. She'd moved to the back and Cloud felt the stirring awareness of Mateus within his mind. She was preparing to fight and survive.

The creature allowed itself to settle upon the earth though it's massive gun, Cerberus, didn't move from beside him. Golden claws clicked upon hardened leather and Cloud tried not to show weakness. Just in case this was a collection of pyreflies reflecting his need for the familiar and not his old friend.

"Cloud, I'm not going to die." Yuna's words were so final and unrelenting that he took a step forward to meet with the being.

"Start climbing," Cloud told her as he raised his blade more fully. "Keep Mateus ready and I'll be right behind you."

"I'll protect Denzel."

The sound of her boots on stone signaled that she was leaving. It was the signal that their fight would begin. Cloud would find a companion from his past or destroy the echo of history. The being was not following Yuna up the cliffside and for that Cloud was thankful. The golden claw clashed with steely blade and the gun had finally come into play. Mako strength and every ounce of Cloud's training and every dirty trick he'd ever learned came into the fray. Until it rose once more into the air. That was when Cloud began to ascend the cliffside as well. He'd tried to give Yuna as much time as possible to get out but he couldn't stay on the ground any longer.

Cloud hurried up the cliff and continued to attack the being. Vaulting from the stone to hit the being and bounce back to the unstable wall. His foe was not still however. It attacked nearly as often and fired upon Cloud between melee slashes. Cloud was cornered by the thing when he heard a more familiar gunshot and Mateus was more solid in his mind than ever before. Yuna's bullets had caught the creature's wings, three balls of molten steel had gone through exceptionally close to where the webbing joined with bone.

"You're taking too long," Yuna called from behind a sturdy wall of stone. A small enclave gave her full coverage though she was also cornered. "You have nine shots left."

"Should be more than enough," he answered as he flung himself away from the cliff once more. Her attack had given him just enough time to find steadier landing points and an opening. With it's wing damaged, Cloud could attack it's weaker side and predict the ways it would dodge or attack. If this was truly Vincent then Cloud was going for his strong side. The arm that held the gun and held the most threat for himself and Yuna. Three more shots rang out as he sliced at the stronger wing.

"Good aim," Cloud called as Cerberus fell from it's hand to clatter lower on the cliffside. As the words left his mouth the begin released a roar that was far more human than animal. "Vincent! Get your shit together, we have a job to do."

Again it tilted it's head and looked at him. Burning eyes that never blinked and the eternal frown that only quirked in happier times.

"Denzel's waiting, we need to find Tifa and the others, and if you've been sitting around and staring at us for a few thousand years, I'm going to be really pissed." Cloud's words were followed by three more shots from Yuna. These were aimed for the shoulders rather than his wings or hands. An attack that would further disable him; Yuna was giving him time to talk. "Come on old man, I need your help."

He was attacking at a slower rate, weaker than before as his eyes went from burning flames to the slow crimson. Back and forth they warred as Cloud struck and parried. Three more shots were fired in tandem with the being's newest attack. An attack Cloud had seen up close an personal many times. The small bullets weren't enough to defend against it but the icy rush of Mateus' magic seemed to be enough to deflect it. The duality of the general and the priestess joining the battle bolstered Cloud's strength and magic flowed more easily from his fingertips. Ice as he'd never cast if before was thrown at the creature while Yuna reenforced the mighty guarding barrier with something far less forgiving than she'd used before.

Mateus was less forgiving than Cloud and Yuna. They stabbed and clawed at their foe while releasing terrible shouts of anger and frustration. Shouts that were echoing through the canyon and returned by the being from before. The storm was about to begin and Cloud needed an answer now. Was his friend with him or not? The Aeon suddenly backhanded it's opponent into the cliffside and rendered it unconscious. In those few fleeting seconds between the strike, the landing, and Cloud rushing over to check, the bone chilling warble of the great beast they _hadn't_ found came from much closer. Cloud glanced down at the unmoving form of what was slowly returning to the Vincent he knew as Mateus began to flutter back and forth uneasily.

Cloud and Yuna had managed to drag him back up to the inn while Mateus watched their back. No sooner had they emerged from the depths of old Midgar had it dismissed itself. As Mateus left so did the rush of energy he and Yuna had felt. Not to mention the deluge of rain that came with the breaking storm.

"Do you think he'll remember you?" Yuna asked as she watched over their guest. She'd showered as he watched over Vincent, just as he'd cleaned up while she kept an eye on him. "It's been a very long time."

"I think he recognized us at the church. I could see it in his eyes as we fought." Cloud was leaning back in one of the chairs the room had while Yuna stood close by. Her summoners robes had not returned but she wasn't wearing her nightgown either. Instead she was dressed in one of the softer robes offered by the inn. Dark violet silk with ripples of blue. When Cloud reached to take her hand in his she hadn't pulled away but moved closer. Her hip touched his shoulder as she leaned against his chair and the soft curtain of her hair fell behind him. It was still damp from the shower.

"Perhaps in his loneliness he sought to forget. It's not uncommon for someone to become a beast out of sorrow."

"Maybe. Vincent has a habit of retreating from the world."

The sun had risen before Vincent made even the slightest movement to signal he was alive. His fingers twitched and his nostrils flared. Yuna had been prepared to defend them all night and the tingle of her magic as it restored had been tickling Cloud's spine as it filled the room. Those few moments when Cloud wasn't watching Vincent were taken up by his summoner. Most of the night she'd leaned against him and his chair, other moments she was curled up on the couch and the soft silk fell in perfect folds to reveal soft skin. It made him wish for just a second that he could hold her upon his lap or climb back into bed and pretend this had never happened. How odd. There had been many times in his life when he wanted nothing more than to pretend it was all a nightmare. Only twice when he wanted to curl up in the embrace of a woman. When he was a small boy he'd climbed into his mother's bed to hide from nightmares.

"Cloud."

He focused on the man in the bed and allowed his summoner to continue sleeping.

"About time." Cloud sat upright and claret eyes met his. "I'm sure you could say the same."

"Every time I opened my eyes it seemed a century had passed. I watched our people change."

"Denzel and I woke up in some kind of ancient lab. Do you know what happened to us?"

Vincent sat upright and stared at Cloud. Without his cloak it was much easier to see the surprise on his face.

"Edge burned. It was the first to burn. I searched for you for months, along with the others. The fires continued to devour Edge and soon erupted in other places." Vincent hadn't looked for them because they were supposed to be dead. Cloud couldn't remember any sort of fire or attack.

"The last thing I remember is going to sleep in my bed. Tifa down the hall and Denzel in his room. Then Yuna was pulling me out of a tank up north. It's Spira now."

Vincent's eyes glanced over to Yuna and Cloud felt as though he should make an effort to cover her. More skin had been showing earlier in the canyon and certainly the Albhed had seen her in her robe earlier when she went for food. It wasn't as though Vincent was going to declare his undying love or compete with him for Yuna's affections. Hell, Cloud was still trying to sort through his own emotions regarding his summoner.

"The Daeva whisper about her," Vincent watched as she breathed. "The Living is as close as I can explain it."

"So when they saw us in Midgar?"

"Suicide is unforgivable, but death in battle is the highest honor."

Cloud understood now why his long time friend had been living in the ruins as Chaos. It was as close to a life as he could maintain. The undying were his only company for centuries.

"We've stumbled across something pretty gruesome," Cloud crossed his arms. Vincent had sat up on the bed and his hands were folded between his knees as he leaned forward to listen. "Something that happened over a thousand years ago with King Zanar."

"Which one?" Vincent raised a brow. His lip quirked ever so slightly and Cloud was suddenly very glad for the absence of the cape.

"The last one. Number...Hold on." Cloud stood up and flipped the page of Zanar's journal open. He really wished he'd paid more attention to Yuna's lessons. "Which number is this?" He offered the book to Vincent.

"Ten. Long after I started living amongst the Daeva."

Well that was useless.

"The first of the Zanar Dynast was almost a three centuries after Edge burned."

"How long did you stay with society after?" Cloud asked.

"Nearly five. Long enough to see the ShinRa and Highwind join and become the royal family of the Bedore, to see Nanaki's people migrate from Cosmo Canyon to Gagazetta, and to see the names of Deepground, Avalanche, and Soldier vanish from memory." Vincent watched Cloud as he considered what that meant.

Their world was completely gone from even ancient history. All that remained was the dead city. Anything that could be salvaged had been. Reclaimed as something entirely different before it was buried beneath endless layers of dust and destroyed by war and Sin.

"Make any friends with the Daeva?" Cloud finally asked.

Vincent smirked and a quiet chuckle came from him. Both fell silent when Yuna stirred and Cloud was very quick to cover her as the robe slipped open a little more. Both men silently agreed to take their discussion to the lobby. Cloud stayed in the room just long enough to move Yuna to the bed and a large part of him wanted to stay when she murmured his name.

"Your savior." Vincent was sitting beside the fireplace with the inn's large cat in front of him.

"I'm her new guardian." Cloud took a seat across from him and the clerk at the desk asked if they needed anything. "Fa'na ymnekrd, dryhg oui. It's been exciting to travel with her."

"I'm sure."

"After we find out what's causing problems here, and figure out if that thing in the canyon is the cause, we're going further south so Denzel can stay safe with one of her friends." Cloud spotted a familiar young man toddling out from the kitchens and towards his room. "Although he seems to enjoy it here."

"Adremmalech, emperor of spirits. The Daeva are of his kin, sent down to calm the dead as they drift through the Lifestream. They bring the pyreflies through the Farplane up to Spira's surface that they might be reborn."

"Is that how it works?" Cloud asked in surprise. "It's a little backwards from how Yuna learned it."

"Not quite. She had the tale half right. Those unfit for service must remain bound to their king, guarding the necropolis that was once Midgar. The once great icon of man's power over nature. Daeva in Midgar keep the living out to prevent any from learning the secrets of ShinRa."

"How long were you watching us?" Cloud narrowed his eyes at Vincent.

"Long enough to know she is more than your charge."

Cloud frowned and then snorted and then crossed his arms once more. He was a grown man and too old to have a crush on someone. Vincent held that ever so faint almost smile once more and his fingers curled through the soft fur of the cat in front of him. The sort of smile that told Cloud it wasn't any use pretending he didn't have a crush. It wasn't really a crush though. It was deeper than a simple crush and Yuna returned those budding feelings. She had since he'd taken a knee and pledged his life to her.

"Tu oui ryja yho vnaa nuusc? So vneaht haatc du nacd."

Vincent raised a brow at the question he asked the clerk until a set of keys was tossed over to them.

"It's two doors before ours," Cloud explained to Vincent. "I'm going to go to sleep with the beautiful woman in my room."

"I'm glad you can see it," Vincent nodded his head. "Rest. I will be here in the morning."

~!~

Yuna woke slowly in Cloud's arms. The gentle patter of the late morning rain upon the glass nearly lulled her back to sleep. The warm embrace of a warrior encouraged it. Her stomach was empty and not happy to have waited so long. However, when Yuna attempted to untangle herself from the mess that was their sleeping position, she realized Cloud was very much awake.

"Let go," she complained half heartedly. "I'm hungry."

"I'm sleeping."

"Cloud," she tried again. "I'm hungry and I have to pee."

"Nope. Still sleeping."

Not once had anyone ever flirted with her while tangled up in bedsheets and still clothed. Not until Cloud. Not once before him had she actively had to try and wrestle her way out of bed. Not once had she actually felt comfortable enough with a man to stay in bed once she woke.

"I really need to pee," Yuna laughed as she nearly made it off of the bed.

"It's barely eleven," Cloud argued. He wasn't holding her waist quite as tightly anymore but he'd moved with her. He was somewhat laying on his stomach while she sat upright at the foot of their bed. "We're still sleeping."

Yuna had learned one very clear and important thing from her previous relationships. Something that had helped her quite a few times in a number of very odd situations. Cloud's yelp as her hand landed firmly upon his rear was just in time with his release of her body. His confused mumbling turned shout was a cause for laughter as she darted into the bathroom.

"What else was I supposed to do?" she asked when she came out. Except he wasn't frowning like Tidus or Fidelius. He was smirking just a little bit as he sat on the edge of the bed. His bare chest was as teasing as his lips and suddenly Yuna knew that they'd both entered something that they'd been avoiding. Maybe that was why she stood in front of him. She'd relented to the driving force between them and linked her fingers behind his neck. Since he'd awoken in Aerilon she'd felt something for him.

"Well now I really want to stay in bed." She could feel the warmth of his hands through her robe. "Denzel is cooking. Vincent is catching up. The studio is full today."

"You sound like you planned it out." Yuna still leaned down to place a very gentle kiss upon his temple.

Her lips drifted down and Cloud tilted his head to meet them. The tentative first meeting of lips between lovers had never held so much weight nor released as many emotions. Something small and delicate that blossomed into a need they'd buried and repressed for as long as they'd seen the other. She climbed further onto his lap as the kiss deepened and Cloud's hands pressed her against his chest. Silk pooled at her waist and firm heat rose to meet her hips.

~!~

The lobby of the inn was two patrons short at both breakfast and lunch. Vincent and Denzel had both expected them to be absent at breakfast but lunch was something Denzel hadn't known either adult to miss. Something about the way Vincent was smiling and the way his father acted around Yuna told him that she was going to be more than just a part of their lives. Good.

"She's pretty cool," Denzel admitted as he sat with Vincent for lunch. The first lunch had come and gone. Denzel was now eating his own meal before he went back to training in the kitchen. "She's really smart. And she's nice, but she's not a pushover."

"Have you learned much since awakening?" Vincent asked him. The cat was curled up and purring in the elder man's lap while Tenro chewed on a meaty bone by Denzel's feet. Vincent had been found by Cloud and Yuna yesterday but he didn't go into the particulars of how or where they'd found him. Probably something violent.

"I've learned everything Yuna taught me and some stuff from the sphere network Shinra put together. He's still trying to pick a name, so he's just Shinra for now."

"Picking a name?" Vincent asked.

"It's part of the cutting ceremony. Shinra stops being a child with the cutting ceremony and gets to pick a name for himself. He said that the child mortality rate is really high, so no one names their children. Instead they take on their family name until they get out of the danger zone." Denzel frowned and looked down at Tenro. How many of Shinra's friends hadn't made it this far? It didn't seem right that one group of people had to suffer such a traumatic event. Maybe he could work with Shinra to try and find a way to fix it. "Rikku used to be Shinra too, and Brother."

"Are you going to visit him while Cloud and Yuna are carrying out their mission?"

"No. Well, maybe. I'm going to go meet Pacce and live with Dona. But I'm invited to the cutting ceremony and we can sphere each other."

"It's good to have friends," Vincent nodded. "I have spent far too many centuries alone and without the company of my fellow man."

"Now you're back," Denzel nodded. "I need your help anyway."

~!~

Dinner was slightly more crowded than usual.

"You're not helping Rook?" Cloud asked as he took a roll from one of the baskets making its rounds through the inn's dining room. Yuna reached over him for something a bit more green and reddish to add to her bowl. The four of them were sitting at the end of a long table and close to the exit. Denzel and Yuna both a little bit closer to the fire while Vincent and Cloud preferred to be beside the door. Not far from them was a group of AlBhed mechanics and engineers, further down were the ones who handled sales, another table had a variety of both and a few couriers and the staff from the inn. Another table had yet more and the merchants from the shops, staff at the studio, and a variety of children Vincent hadn't noticed before.

"Nah, we made a big pot of stew," Denzel took a roll as well. "There's supposed to be a really big storm tonight and it's important to give everyone a meal that will keep them warm."

"Bikannel can get very cold at night," Yuna agreed. "Spicy stews have always been a part of life. It's so damp here that most people want something dry."

Vincent hadn't eaten what humans considered food in a very long time. Sitting in a hall with his friend and his family made him want to. To enjoy a beer and good company was something he could feel a longing for. Something he could only just remember sharing with Cloud and others before. The memories of his time with Cloud were growing in his mind. Faded for too long as he wandered through the realms of Gaia turned Spira. But as he drank his ale and watched his friend fall in love he could remember others. A crimson eyed woman he'd longed for and a large gunman who hid his compassion behind rough words. He could remember Cid Highwind the best. He could even see hints of the man in Rin and in Yuna. Just a little bit.

Music picked up from further down in the hall and happy voices joined together in song. Ancient alBhed turned and changed just a little by the passage of time.

"I can't figure it out," Cloud frowned a few moments later.

"It's an old song, so it doesn't translate very well," Yuna explained. "Vincent, were you listening when this song came to be?"

"The second Zanar had taken the throne," Vincent nodded. "It was much easier to understand then, but the message is still clear."

"I'm confused," Clod frowned. "I'm supposed to be good at this language."

"It translates to," Yuna frowned as she thought it out. "Can you hear us sing a song of anger? Our song is a refusal to be slaves. Our hearts and drums are beating to welcome a new day." She paused and thought a bit longer. "Are you joining us, standing strong? There is a world you desire past the walls. Fight beside us for freedom."

"That is perhaps as close as one could translate it to from ancient times," Vincent conceded.

"If it helps, it's hard for even Rikku to translate into AlBhed." Yuna gave the man a small kiss on his bared shoulder before returning to her meal.

"That kind of helps," Cloud smiled before giving her a small kiss in return.

Young love.

"You have some talent with a pistol," Vincent spoke after the first pangs of hunger had been staved off by their meal. "I have fought many who displayed less accuracy and wit."

"Thank you. My cousins and Uncle Cid taught me." Yuna was a person who smiled often much like the crimson eyed woman. Her true smiles were nearly as rare as well. "Rikku and Shinra would have contests and Uncle Cid would have to declare a winner."

"Brother didn't take part?" Cloud asked with the hint of a smirk. Vincent could remember Cloud's grins and smirks had vanished after someone had died.

"Brother prefers cannons and explosions to firearms," Yuna shook her head. Her attention turned to Denzel and the young man seemed eager to hear any question from the High Summoner. "Has Shinra told you any of the names he's picked?"

"He's thinking about Cid, Lazard, or Rufus," Denzel frowned. "I don't know about Rufus. He's only thinking of Cid to make his dad happy."

"Lazard was a good guy," Cloud nodded. "Always made sure we had something to eat once he got into the company."

"What?" Denzel leaned back in confusion.

"President Shinra had a lot of children but most of us were with mistresses. Lazard was the eldest. Then me. Then Rufus came and eventually Evan."

"Evan who used to deliver alcohol to the bar?" Denzel asked in a tone similar to excitement. Vincent listened as well, curious to see how he'd missed such striking similarities between his friend and a man he'd once recognized as his boss. Surely he must have noticed once upon a time. Then again, his heart was still filled with pain when he met Cloud. Those few times he had met Rufus Shinra were not focused on minor details but on staying alive or getting away.

"That's the one," Cloud gave a half laugh. A saddened sound that made Yuna reach over under the table to take his hand. "Rufus called me a little before to ask if I wanted to join the family business he and Evan were putting together."

"So Evan made it out okay," Denzel nodded to himself. "Vincent was telling me about the fires."

"Fires?" Yuna asked in alarm. "What fires?"

Vincent told her what he knew and what was slowly growing in his mind. The great cities of Gaia had been burned to the ground and the living had come together to survive. The first fire had been in Edge and marked the vanishing of Cloud, Denzel and Tifa. For weeks Vincent and others had searched for any survivors yet not even a body was found for the trio.

"I suspect you were taken just before the flames," Vincent leaned against the table. "Tifa may or may not...That was her name."

The woman with the crimson eyes had been named Tifa. A woman who was so compassionate and selfless that he'd often wondered if she was human. Denzel picked up where Vincent left off and for that he was glad. Remembering her name and her face caused Vincent to remember why he'd secluded himself away from the living for so long. Little things people did would remind him of the second woman he'd lost. Lucrecia still sat in her cave someplace far away but Tifa had been warm and welcoming from the first moment their eyes had met. He could recall a will of steel under all of that as well. Yuna was very much like her but the differences were greater.

"So it's pretty safe to assume our friends might be hidden away somewhere."

"Zanar's journal didn't say anything about Caprica though," Yuna frowned.

"Midgar was a taboo word when I retreated," Vincent offered. "Caprica as I knew it did not come to be until the war."

"Maybe Caprica was made to cover something." Cloud's suggestion was referring to something and while Yuna understood Denzel and Vincent certainly did not. "Maybe it's not in the beginning of the journal because it came after."

"Maybe." Vincent watched as she pulled out two small and ancient books and flipped to the back. It seemed Cloud and Yuna were on more than an adventure. "Caprica...it's named for his first son."

"That last video showed..." Cloud looked at Vincent. "Dr. Valentine and Dr. Crescent were talking about how he'd turned his sons over to the lab."

Vincent needed to watch whatever it was they were talking about. Something very odd was happening.

~!~

The scent of chemicals and oil filled the room as Yuna cleaned her pistols. Vincent had already finished and sat quietly watching one of the spheres they had found as they trekked through Aerilon Palace. Most of the spheres from the palace were made by a little boy; Al Pharzon the last of the Zanar Dynasty. Cloud tried not to listen too closely to the recordings as he waited for the rippling sound of their storm summoning Aeon deep inside of Midgar's ruins. Zanar's journal hadn't covered the turning of his son in great detail or depth but Al Pharzon's sphere had explained more than enough.

" _Your grace," Dr. Valentine came towards the much shorter person behind the sphere. "It is very dangerous for you to do this."_

" _I wanted to see him before..." The view of the sphere dipped a little bit. Dr. Valentine's shoes came into view and the sphere raised to take the man's face in. "It's too late, isn't it?"_

" _You must be very careful Alphie. One day, when you make a pilgrimage through Spira, you will see him again."_

" _But he's going to the necropolis!"_

Cloud set a comforting hand on the aeon sitting in his lap. Carbuncle didn't like the scent of Yuna's cleaning supplies so it fell to him to comfort the little thing. Tenro was with Denzel hunting down rats and fiends in Rook's cookery otherwise both of them would be running around the room together. Not that Cloud minded having the little fox dog cat thing hanging around. Carbuncle was a sweet little guy who tried very hard not to get in the way or cause trouble. There was something about being here that made Carbuncle too frightened to move. As Vincent caught up on the events he'd missed and Yuna filled in the gaps she knew of, Cloud was just fine sitting quietly with Carbuncle by the window. The warble of their lost prince began to echo up from the canyon and Carbuncle shivered again.

"Are daeva more dangerous during the day or at night?" Cloud asked.

"I don't know," Yuna looked up from what she was doing. "I usually encountered them in caves or the Farplane. It's hard to judge time."

"They are weakest when the storms subside," Vincent set the last sphere down. "They gain power with the shadows and flee the rare sunbeam that breaks through the clouds."

"So we're looking for something that comes out when Daeva are growing in power," Cloud shook his head. "Could we have picked a worse aeon to try and find?"

"Do you want to come back to it later?" Yuna's question wasn't teasing or mocking. It was honest. "We're still exhausted from our first trek into Midgar and having a couple more aeons might help out."

"Who's next in the journal?" Cloud asked. "After Mateus and Siren."

"Next is...Belias. The one that lines up with Kilika and the northern half of the temple you told me about."

Cloud thought about it for a moment. Going to Kilika meant another ride on the airship or walking all the way to Luca and wasting a lot more time they could be using to search for spheres.

"Vincent, have you ever seen Addremalech?"

"Many times. We have much in common, though he is much younger than I." Somehow Vincent's words were not surprising.

"Any way you could talk him into coming up and just having a match with us?"

"No."

It was worth a shot. It was worth it to hear Yuna giggle too. She still sat cleaning her pistols but there was a smile on her face he'd only seen a few times before.

"Alright. Let's mosey down to Kilika then. It'll probably help us to get Belias and a couple others first."

"Addremalech was one of Spira's bravest warriors," Yuna finally set her gun down. "In the beginning of the journal, Zanar writes how proud he is to know his son will take the throne after. Even when he talks of others he's sent to the lab, Addremalach is the one who takes the initiative and captures them."

"There was a time when he was still new to the valley," Vincent spoke slowly. "I had been sleeping and his rage awoke me. He spoke only of betrayal. Of his father, against his brother and his son. He is a tormented soul."

He left the room after Yuna had reassembled her pistols and took the cleaning kit with him. She'd offered it earlier, asking if he wanted to spend time getting to know one another but it seemed to Cloud that Vincent had merely watched her. How much of Vincent had remained after all of these years? How much had he lost the first time he'd fallen asleep after Lucrecia and how much had been torn from him when he thought Cloud and the others were dead? Vincent was one of Cloud's best friends. One of the only living people he could relate to as he'd been both a loyal ShinRa employee and one of Hojo's captives. He was one of he only people who would smirk in amusement whenever Cloud mentioned something from his training days or the golden years. He wanted his friend back.

"The pyreflies inside Vincent are..." Yuna's voice trailed off as she considered how to phrase her next words. It was the first time she'd really spoken since the storm started. "They don't seem to be awake."

"He has pyreflies inside of him?" Cloud and Carbuncle both looked at her in confusion.

"Everyone does. Even you have them. When I woke you and Denzel, they were slow, but they woke up when we began to travel."

"Too much time in Midgar or too much time in Hojo's lab." Cloud leaned back and Carbuncle grumbled a little bit before dismissing himself in a small cloud of pyreflies. "Are we sure he's an aeon?"

"Very sure. He's just a little one."

He continued to think as she contacted her cousin for another ride. Everyone had pyreflies and Vincent's weren't active. If it had been from Hojo' experiments then surely Cloud's would be sleeping as well. The same went for contact with the Lifestream. Perhaps it was the presence of Chaos in his body or the other demons who lived there. Maybe it was living in Midgar for so long. Then again, Vincent had undergone different procedures than Cloud had while with the good doctor. Cloud had spent the last couple dozen centuries in a tube and that could have something to do with it but even ageless aeons were made up of pyreflies.

"Rikku is coming in the morning," Yuna told him as she hung up the phone. "Rin won't be happy the album is unfinished, but there's enough for him to release a few singles until it's done."

"How is Rin related to you and Rikku?" Cloud asked as he finally stood from his seat at the window. After hanging up the phone Yuna had set a single pistol on the bedside table and stowed the other in her gunbelt by the dresser.

"Rin is my mother's twin brother and Uncle Cid is their elder."

"What was her name?" He kicked his boots off while she did the same. If she stayed in that gunner outfit for the rest of their journey his only complaint would be in a snowy region. Or if other men watched her while she bent to look at something.

"Rena."

"Elise." Cloud pulled his shirt over his head and grinned just a little bit when he heard her stop whatever it was she was about to say. As soon as his head was free from the fabric she'd look away or remember what she was about to say; his ego swelled just a little bit when he caught her admiring him.

"She did a very good job."

"Oh?" Cloud asked as he escaped the knit prison of his shirt. Yuna had at some point loosened the laces of her own shirt, the corset laced cotton drifting apart.

"Uh huh."

~!~!~!~

The AlBhed are in fact singing "Can you Hear the People Sing?" from Les Miserables. It seems like a song both Deepground and the Bedore would have gone with in times of need. Hell, it's a song almost everyone can get behind.

And I had not intended for Cloud and Yuna to jump forward like that. But they did.


	5. Chapter 5

" _And from the darkness there shall rise an evil more dreadful than death itself." I have seen it's talons reaching out from the depths. I know the Last Hope shall not be enough to defeat the Old One. They did not destroy it the first time. It will return. It always returns._

Yuna leaned back in her seat as she turned Zanar's passage over in her mind. Just before he'd begun to fall into madness this had been written. His last entry before he began to doubt every shadow and suspect his family and friends of treason. It was his last entry before he began to talk about Dr. Valentine's FAYTH serum.

"You think Aeons were created to combat this Old One?" Cloud asked from the bar. He was sipping one of Barkeep's concoctions and for the first time he wasn't about to puke. Brother had control of his ship again and was keeping the pace steady to Kilika while Rikku had stayed behind on Bikanel to plan her wedding and take over the mantle of Minaj.

"It would make sense. Aeons have been around far longer than Sin and summoners were once on the front lines against Bevelle." Yuna made a note in her own small journal. Having a journal of her own was the only way she could keep track of the king's words. "After the war, summoners were drafted into Bevelle's army to fight Sin and keep the peace while he slept."

"So Sin took you guys out of your normal role as soldiers," Cloud frowned. "Isn't Bevelle the main seat? Why was there a war?"

"Bevelle was once a machina run city that relied on technology. Zanarkand was a city that valued magic and learning above all else. They went to war over something silly I'm sure, and Yu Yevon, the High Summoner of Zanarkand at the time created a special Aeon out of those still alive in Zanarkand. A final hope to defeat Bevelle at the cost of their own lives."

"Sin," Cloud nodded. "Except Bevelle became Yevon's headquarters?"

"I don't understand it myself," Yuna shook her head. "At some point Yunalesca et Yevon realized what her father had done and tried to stop him. Because she had saved Spira at the cost of her own life, Yevon was born and the title of High Summoner was passed to the next to die. A title of honor over strength."

"Then you broke it."

"Then I broke it, yes."

Barkeep continued wiping down the bar before speaking to his beloved Sweetie.

"Does he say anything else about the Old One?" Cloud asked. "What it is or looks like?"

"Not really. He mentions that it haunts him. He found it on his pilgrimage through Spira but not where he found it. I don't think his version of a pilgrimage is the same as ours."

"Ar-Pharzon was supposed to go on one too, wasn't he?" Cloud leaned over to look through her notes.

"Maybe it's something you did before taking the crown." Yuna turned back to the few notes she'd made of the last prince of the Zanar dynasty. "There's not much about him at all."

Something made a sound by the bunks and Yuna rolled her eyes at her troublesome little aeon; Carbuncle always did get into messes if he was out and she didn't keep an eye on him. Cloud remained at the bar reading through her notes while Yuna went to go check on the furry teal creature. As Cloud learned more and more High Spiran he was able to help a bit more with their investigation. His rudimentary understanding of the language helped; Yuna was too used to prayers and official documents written in the flowing script so she often missed the original and blunt meanings of certain characters.

"Hey Bubba," Yuna smiled and knelt down beside her tangled aeon. "You know, if you didn't play on the bed you wouldn't get tangled up in the sheets."

The aeon gave a purring bark to her as she helped him out of the linens. Her AlBhed cousins and friends hadn't asked about the little thing's presence despite the fact he wasn't any normal pet or unusual fiend. To be honest, Yuna wasn't' even sure about Carbuncle or what he could do. She'd never summoned him in a fight nor had she ever called on his aide. Although whenever he was out and about Yuna and Cloud would find a good deal more treasure and take far fewer hits. Her healing magic was more powerful and Cloud was able to call on the aide of supportive spells. Perhaps aiding them in health and protection was his gift.

He was so small though. He acted so much like a small pup that she wondered how he'd come to be in the palace at all. The aeon gem she'd picked up from the dining hall of the palace was in her hip pouch, the entirety of his mortal frame no larger than her palm after his trip into the FAYTH developed by Dr. Valentine and Dr. Crescent. Dr. Valentine who looked a good deal like Vincent despite having...

"Come on, it's time for lunch." She wouldn't think about it. Not until they found more.

Carbuncle yipped in delight before prancing in front of the stairs. He didn't need her help getting up or down them; the moment she reached the top of the stair he turned into a ball of bright red light and zipped over to Cloud's lap. The blonde leaned back in mild surprise before patting the aeon on the head and continuing to read.

"Mateus keeps wondering why he's out and about," Cloud spoke up.

"I can't quite seem to force him back," Yuna laughed. "I feel so terrible whenever I do. He wants to explore as much as we do."

"Hm," Cloud agreed. "I can't figure out this sigil."

Yuna leaned over to see what he was pointing at and nearly gasped.

"Angara Manyu."

"You've met it before?" Cloud asked.

"Defeated it. Them. A mother and her two sons."

"Sounds about right," Cloud agreed. "Zanar's second wife bore him twins but she stood with the Bedore and fought to get them a seat in the senate."

"So he banished her to Bikanel with them." Yuna read the passage just before mention of Angara Manyu. The former empress had displeased him not only in her sympathies but in her protest of using the FAYTH to create living weapons. Angara had gone to the vats alongside her sons. "I wonder...they were locked within a cave guarded by cactuar and after we defeated them we didn't really hang around."

"So you have an aeon hanging out in Bikanel?" Cloud leaned away rom the bar and nodded at Barkeep when he asked if they wanted to eat.

"It seems so. That's one down I suppose."

"Except for the other one he sent with her," Cloud motioned for her to keep reading. Barkeep had set a glass of something in front of Cloud and a sandwich in front of Yuna.

"Nabriales ShinRa of the Bedore, Minaj of his people and," Yuna gasped at the following text. Zanar suspected her of sleeping with the man and of their twin sons being nothing more than bastards. "He forced Nabriales to become an aeon for 'daring to rise above his birth'. What a monster."

"Keep reading."

"' _Nabriales has transgressed against the light of the Goddess. The fool has entered the depths of the Necropolis and held congress with Chaos. To entertain Chaos is to hasten the return of the Old One.'_ But Chaos is within Vincent, it can't possibly be that dreadful, he wouldn't do something so horrible."

"Chaos is an agent of the Lifestream. When Chaos sets about to his duty he brings Omega. A sort of reset button the planet came up with the start everything over again." Cloud set his smoothie down on the bar. "I don't think Chaos has anything to do with the Old One, but from what we know I'm going to guess he stumbled into Midgar and had a chat with Vincent."

"How foolish," Yuna sighed. Carbuncle was looking back and forth between them before pawing and Cloud's hand for a quick pet. "Being punished simply for gaining knowledge."

"And for sleeping with the empress. Zanar did catch them in bed."

"We'll have to see about them after Kilika and Besaid," Yuna agreed. They were to land in Kilika by evening and both were somewhat tired of being ship bound. Cloud in particular seemed eager to get off of the ship. That had less to do with motion sickness and more to do with Brother's constant attentions and criticisms. Not a single crew member had anything to say about Shinra and Denzel but there was a lot of attention given to Yuna and Cloud.

"Brother seems to want a wedding between us so he can protest the union and challenge me to a duel to the death." Cloud had finished his drink and Yuna had handed the rest of her sandwich to Carbuncle.

"He has no right," Yuna shook her head. "I grew up in the Yevon faith, but Rikku's approval forbids him from any action against you."

"Love the matriarchy," Cloud smiled as he leaned forward to kiss her gently.

"Nhadala approved of the marriage between Rikku and Gippal. She was married to Keyakku, my eldest cousin, but after his death she became the Mujan. It's a sort of...not quite a leader, but a regent until Rikku could take her place as head of the family."

"If Keyakku had lived, would she have become Minaj?" Cloud asked.

"No. It's always been passed down through the blood. I'm only half AlBhed, so if anything happened to Rikku, Nhadala would remain a regent until Brother or Uncle Rin had a daughter."

"I feel like that last one isn't likely," Cloud shook his head.

"There's a reason Rook has always been with Rin," Yuna smiled. "Be happy you don't have to impress Nhadala. She made Gippal and Rikku separate for two years during their courtship. Letters only."

Cloud shook his head with a smile and somehow she knew he'd have written to her for those two years. He was just the kind of man who stayed loyal to his heart. Even if it had been torn to shreds.

~!~

"I think I need new clothes," Cloud admitted as they stood around on the docks of Kilika.

The sun was beating down upon them and Cloud's choice of entirely black was beginning to seem like a bad idea. Heavy denim pants and a wool sweater had been useful in the Thunder Plains and further north but in the south where even Yuna was beginning to sweat, he needed to find something else. Denzel and Shinra were just fine, despite Shinra being clad head to toe in a soft yellow containment suit. Pacce was coming to join them and made a bee line towards the two boys his age. Good. Denzel would have friends and a party of his own to explore one day.

"How old is Pacce?" Cloud asked his lover.

"He should be turning fourteen soon. A year younger than Denzel and a few moons behind Shinra." Yuna was beginning to walk along the colorful sea themed docks and Cloud realized they were walking through the town itself. A seamless merging between business and homes had happened without his being aware of it but very soon he was wandering through the market village alongside her.

They reached a house that was somewhat different than the others. Larger and more ornate. He could hear the dulcet tones of a woman and the low voice of a man either arguing with her or agreeing. It was hard to tell.

"Hello!" Yuna called out before knocking on the door. "Is a summoner there? There's a summoner who wishes to speak to the summoner." The door opened and a very pregnant woman was frowning at her. "I decided to try and be funny. How are you Dona?"

"You're a riot," the woman shook her head. She was smiling just a little bit as she stepped back and allowed them into her home. "I am quite well, but dare I ask why you have a complete stranger tagging along?"

"She found me in the ruins too," Cloud answered as he followed Yuna inside. The summoner holding the door open raised a brow at both of them. "I'm older."

"Cloud has been traveling alongside me. He's my Primero Guard." Yuna took a seat on one of the low couches in the circular home. Little doorways seemed to branch off from this main room and a ladder led both up into a loft and down into some kind of storage room. "Now we're trying to piece everything together and find some of his friends."

"He's one of _them_?" Dona asked in surprise.

"No. He's fought alongside me against one but he was taken from his home long before Zanar started." Yuna didn't really explain what was going on but with so many people passing by the house and Pacce darting in with Denzel and Shinra, he and Dona could understand the veiled words. "It's possible someone was trying to copy him."

"Well, he's a step up from the last one," Dona eyed Cloud thoughtfully. The large man behind her seemed used to her behavior or else he didn't care. "You should check up on Tidus. There's been some stories floating around."

"Someone probably saw Cloud and-"

"Someone saw Tidus in Luca with a girl who looked like you."

"He made his choice," Yuna shook her head. "I merely agreed to his suggestion that we separate."

Cloud did not like to see her so upset but he knew that this was something that needed to be resolved sooner rather than later. He also knew that Yuna's phone would blow up every night around midnight or later and she would erase the many messages left behind without listening to them. Cloud knew he looked enough like this kid to cause some confusion and a part of him did worry that Yuna was using him to replace Tidus. He'd done his own unhealthy rebound after both Aerith and Tifa. There was a cool feeling replacing his ire and subtle knowledge filing into his mind. Mateus was feeding him little clips and feelings to let him know Yuna was genuine in her affections. The memory of he and Yuna sitting on the steps of Picon temple and knowing that they were far beyond falling.

"Where is he now?" Cloud asked. He wasn't about to let Tidus ruin something Cloud and Yuna deserved.

"Besaid. With someone who supposedly looks like Yuna."

"It's either Calle or LeBlanc," Yuna sighed. She pulled their Zanar Spheres from her pouch and handed them over to Dona. "There's some kind of hidden temple here on Kilika we're going to investigate before we go to Besaid."

"It could be on the taboo island," Dona hummed. "Barthello and Pacce said they only just had enough time to hide the spheres before the guardian beast began to come for them."

"I don't suppose it breathed fire?" Cloud asked.

"They didn't stick around long enough to find out," Dona shook her head. "I'll have burn cream and potions waiting for you when you get back. Until then, you should rest. The evening fog will cover your travel to the island."

"Why does it feel like Yuna's come here to heal before?" Cloud frowned. Dona merely smiled and Yuna looked down at her steepled fingers. He waited and Dona's smile grew just a little bit while the silent Barthello began to smirk from where he stood by the door.

"Dona and I," Yuna shook her head and began again. "After everything that happened, no one could really understand how lost I was. To be a summoner is to have purpose. Neither of us ever looked to anything beyond that moment and when the need for sacrifice was no more..."

"Yuna and I were both struggling to find our way in a world we didn't understand," Dona picked up. "We had learned no skills, knew nothing outside of Yevon, we had few friends and even fewer peers. In the years after Sin we came to rely on one another."

"I suppose it's like yourself and Vincent," Yuna summarized. "You both remember the company at it's height and you're able to connect over the pride of being part of it."

Cloud understood.

"That doesn't answer why she has a first aide kit set aside just for you," Cloud gave her a small smirk.

"She gets into trouble," Barthello told on her with a wide smile. "All summoners get into trouble when they go off by themselves."

The boys had run off into the jungle together to explore almost immediately. Pacce was a cool guy, and he didn't give Shinra any dirty looks like some of the people on the docks had. Denzel knew he was the eldest of their group but for some reason it was easier to let Pacce show them around the island. The baby of their trinity; not that he or Shinra were ever going to say that. It was just rude.

"Do you fight with machina?" Pacce asked Shinra as they walked through the underbrush of the Kilika jungle. They weren't too far from the path but there were still fiends everywhere. There was evidence of the Youth League still around too. Denzel was pretty sure he didn't like anyone who camped out in a forest and left behind a bunch of trash, especially when they'd been gone for almost three years.

"Sort of. Rikku has been training me to be an alchemist but Vydran is teaching me to be a sharpshooter."

"What did Brother teach you?" Denzel asked as he climbed onto a fallen log. Denzel always ended up in the lead for some reason and Tenro was constantly bounding back over to them as they explored, small fiends shaken in his jaws or some kind of weird fruit he'd chase once it escaped.

"He's teaching me to box. It's...I'd rather fight from a distance."

"Boxing?" Pacce cheered. "Barthello keeps saying he'll teach me eventually. I want to be like him one day. And I will be, just watch!"

"Do you know any moves yet?" Denzel asked from the top of the log.

"I know a little bit," Pacce toed the ground.

"You'll be great," Shinra nodded. "We can use you to intimidate people when his sword and my machina don't work."

"Yeah," Denzel grinned. "Even the fiends are going to be shaking."

Tenro barked from the riverside and the boys continued exploring the forest as they planned for glory.

~!~

"Do you think it's the Temple of the Ancients?" Yuna asked as she and Cloud made their way to the mist shrouded island off of Kilika.

Lohgrif Isle was one of the ancient temples of Spira and when Yuna had asked about the lore it was a lot more than just taboo. Lohgrif was some kind of demon land from a time before Sin. Children thought the demons of the island came at night to seal them away. Some thought it was cursed and held some terrible machina or artifact that would rain fire upon them all. Some were a bit less superstitious but they too suspected something terrible was there. Too many curious relatives lost or friends had disappeared. From a distance it looked more like a cloud resting upon the water.

"I doubt it," Cloud continued to row. "The temple collapsed in on itself and never really came back. Between now and then, I'm sure it's been scrapped and used up in some of the other temples around Spira."

They moved slower once they entered the thick fog. Rocks would appear suddenly jutting out of the sea or they'd hover just beneath the surface of the water. The fiends swimming below were larger and stranger looking than any Yuna had seen before. Paler from a lack of sunlight and more aggressive towards each other. She and Cloud drifted through, hardly touching the oars and instead pushing off of rocks. Soon the sound of a rocky shore sounded beneath them and Cloud hopped out to pull the boat ashore.

Fifteen minutes after Barthello and Pacce landed and hid the sphere before the great beast came for them. She and Cloud had fifteen minutes to set themselves to rights and get as far up the path as they could. Had they misjudged it? Was this aeon in fact stronger than the last one? They'd only just managed to defeat Mateus. Siren wasn't an offensive aeon and Carbuncle was just himself.

They walked quietly along the beach before coming to a rocky cliff stretching further up than either could safely jump. The fog at the top was too thick and the stone crumbled whenever they touched it. Instead they chose to follow the rough face as far as they could.

Cloud pointed to something Yuna hadn't seen. Steps, sort of, had been worn away but they still stood out. He tested them first, bouncing lightly and then more firmly before he took her hand and began to climb. Barthello hadn't gone this far. The chest of spheres he and Pacce had left were just by the beach; their contents now in Cloud's pack to prevent other daring teens from finding them. That wasn't what concerned Yuna though. Their fifteen minutes were up.

She nearly asked Cloud what he thought until her eyes widened in surprise. They were being silent. Cloud turned to see why she was lagging and his mouth opened. Yuna quickly made a motion across her neck and placed her fingers against his lips. His brows furrowed for a moment before he understood. Lohgrif Isle was a place where sight didn't matter. Sound did. They'd heard fiends and stood still as they passed or moved out of their way, but the fiends hadn't made noise. What sort of place had this been before the mists?

They came to something that wasn't quite an alter, and wasn't quite a temple. A wide and endless marble courtyard spread out before them, surrounded by pillars that looked nearly the same as the trees of Midgar. Their branches had held something up once, small chunks of something still hung to the branches. Yuna brushed her fingers across the trunk and almost gasped when ash came off of the stone. The trees were not white, the courtyard they walked through was not white. It had been burned.

Cloud grabbed her arm suddenly and she jerked to see what had caught his attention. Laying in the middle of the temple was the remnants of a colossal bonfire. The soft sound of it's snores was the only clue it was alive until it moved. An Aeon who'd rejected his fayth just like Angara Manyu. Unless this was just an incredibly large fiend. Her summoner senses didn't believe that for a second. This was an Aeon.

Yuna saw it at the same time Cloud had. A chunk of the long ruined ceiling falling slowly towards the ground.

The hollow crack of petrified wood against stone was profane in this sacred and terrifying place. It was a sound that made the slumbering giant roar to life in fire and fury and upon spotting them, roared even louder and caused yet more of the loose stones and slats of wood to ignite around them. Might Guard was cast before Yuna recognized she was doing it and both of them were forced to back away from the greyish orange beast-man.

"Who Disturbs Me?" the aeon roared.

"I do!" Yuna shouted back. She ignored the very deep frown Cloud was giving her. "I am High Summoner Yunalesca et Fabula."

"High Summoner?" The beast laughed heartily and a second set of arms emerged from his fur to cross in front of him while the massive set held his axe in a lazy grip. "You Have But Two Aeons With You. The Fools Mateus And The Small One."

"I killed the others," Yuna stood strong against him. "Their lives in exchange for those of my people. To defeat Sin."

"Sin. Sin Is Not Of Us." Belias shifted again and Cloud held his sword aloft behind Yuna. "Very Well. You Would Claim Power, I would Give You Power. If You Are Worthy."

Yuna knew he would rush them. Everything she'd ever read about the man he'd been screamed brash and boisterous. There were hidden moments of cleverness as well though these were not often revealed. Not that they needed revelation. As Yuna and Cloud battled the Aeon it became obvious he was playing with them. Testing them to see their strength unlike Mateus who attacked them from deep within their drugged haze. This was filled with passion and fire. Cloud moved quicker around the beast while Yuna fired upon the great beast with every sort of ammunition she had on her person.

Yuna wasn't sure if it was a good sign or a bad one that Belias was laughing at them as he fought. Even when he took powerful hits or direct shots he was chuckling and growing more excited. All around them the flames climbed higher and licked away at the once bright white pillars. The earth had been turned black around them and the mist was burning away.

"Again Small Woman!" Belias laughed as she went trigger happy against him. "Your Will To Fight And Win Amuses Me!"

Right up until Cloud released one of his more powerful attacks.

"Your Guardian Is Fierce," Belias wavered in his stance. "I Foresee Many Battles In Your Journey. That I Could Battle Mateus Before Is No Matter." Yuna trained her gun on the being and pulled the hammer back. "I Shall Follow My Summoner. However, My Glyph Is All I Shall Grant You."

"Lost your family jewels?" Cloud asked from Belias' other side.

"Ha! Funny. If My Fayth Stone Leaves This Island, The Fiends I Have Sealed Will Be Loosed Upon Kilika. I Will Not Allow That."

Yuna frowned as she realized why Picon Bay was experiencing such a heat wave. She carried the Fayth stone of Mateus in her hip pouch. As she thought on this, Mateus rippled in her mind and Belius turned back into the stone he'd become. Only his glyph would be granted to her. To them?

"It's all yours," Cloud gestured to the rock. "I'm a guardian, remember?"

"You're more than that," Yuna smiled and reached out to touch the stone. Perhaps she could find Paine again an ask the woman to restore the rock to Picon. Perhaps Picon didn't want it back to begin with. "You're also very warm on a cold night."

Cloud was about to respond but something was creeping nearby, attracted to the sound of battle and human voices. They hushed as it lumbered into view, hesitant and nearly unwilling to enter the pavilion of Belias. First one albino claw, then another, shaking with fear as much as it shook with hunger. Only when it was fully on the ashen floor did it begin to stride more fully across the stone. The stone of Belias glowed brightly and a wave of unreal heat erupted around the blind fiend that had wandered in.

The pale ash drifted to the ground and added yet another fallen fiend at their feet.

Yuna looked at the warmly glowing fayth and let her fingertips brush against it. The Glyph burned around her feet and swirled like any other summoner's wheel before rising up around her and releasing Belias once more into the world. He didn't speak this time. His beastly mouth bared its fangs in a cruel mockery of a smile despite the waves of utter joy and excitement that came off of him.

He dismissed himself in a cloud of burning ash.

They crawled up the ladder and back into Dona's hut as the sun began to crest the horizon. Just in time to avoid curious villagers and fishermen. Cloud was vaguely aware of seeing Denzel cozied up beside Shinra and Pacce sprawled across the floor nearby. He was only just aware of Dona making tea and directing them to the spare room that would soon belong to the boys. He was tired and his summoner was pulling him down into bed. The soft light of the rising sun didn't rouse him from his slumber. It merely lulled the both of them into a deep sleep that didn't end until the sun was high in the sky. The smell of food only just pulled at him before the warm air of Kilika tempted him to close his eyes again. He would have worried if not for Yuna's fingertips curling on his chest; the last time he'd slept this long he'd been ill from a nasty spell.

This time his lover kept pulling him back into her arms.

His mind began to rush into wakefulness as he considered who had joined her mental retinue. Mateus was mostly quiet unless there was trouble with his emotions or magic. The joined aeon hadn't even spoken as they fought and still didn't say much but the entity that was Belias had been boisterous and loud. After thousands of years he was still cheerful and battle hungry. He was lonely. Cloud tilted his head to look down at Yuna and wondered if Belias had joined them more for the company than because of their strength. Perhaps he should have accepted the aeon alongside her. To give her some reprieve from the talkative being.

The cool sensation of Mateus told him no. A very firm no that echoed with the shape of a man, a general who had become the armor and spear of Mateus. Except Cloud hadn't even taken the glyph of Mateus back in Picon, he hadn't taken the jewel or anything like that, Mateus had decided to join him.

Because Yuna needed a guardian.

Those thoughts were from the aeon. Mateus had joined with Cloud because he saw what they would become. He saw the echo of a powerful priestess and a mystic knight who could change the world. Just as the general had protected his wife, so too did he wish to help Cloud protect his love.

Cloud kissed the top of Yuna's head and stared up at the ceiling as the Aeon settled back into the depths of his mind. He'd had beings give him psychic messages before. Jenova, Sephiroth, even the Lifestream had used his head to see to their own needs. Cloud didn't talk much about the Lifestream using him. It was, most times, something benign and good for the regrowth of Gaia and her people. Sometimes it wasn't. Sometimes it was Zach scratching the back of his head and apologizing for sending him to take someone down.

He ran his free hand over his face and exhaled more than sighed. He'd always felt like a pawn after that. Now some secret cult had kidnapped he and his friends for some last resort kind of thing. A cult that was probably long dead and couldn't even give him a reason for it. He wasn't angry about it though. Cloud just wanted an answer. He wanted to know what he was supposed to be fighting and why. It was perhaps a good thing and a bad thing that Yuna had found him sealed away. She'd awakened him to a new world; not a better world but at least it was alive and worth saving. The people were alive and when he'd stumbled across the Old One in Zanar's diary he'd been filled with purpose.

He was a guardian. Beyond his oath to Yuna in the forgotten palace this was something he knew how to do.

"We should get up," Cloud murmured to her.

"If we wake up, then we have to go to Besaid."

"You keep living in dreams any longer and you'll become a fayth." His teasing was followed by a short kiss. "I'll build you a temple and pray every morning at sunrise with the most annoying hymn I can think of."

"You're annoying now," Yuna grumbled through a smile.

"I'm also hungry and trying to be good because I don't want to get in a fist fight after getting off of the boat." Cloud sat up in bed despite Yuna's effort to keep him beside her. "We'll have lunch, I'll find a way not to puke all over the ship, and then you can show me all around the island."

"Wakka will do that." Yuna relented at the sound of Dona's voice calling them from the front room. "He'll want to put you through the paces and grill you about why you think you're good enough."

"I'll have a good cover story." Cloud reached over for his shirt before hesitating a moment. It was really hot on Kilika. "Denzel and I lost our village because of Sin, ever since we've been traveling. Mostly around Picon and the Thunder Plains."

"Don't forget, you also work for Rin in the Studio."

"Only after I met you." Cloud pulled her to standing and the two of them headed out to see if there was any food left on the table.

Yuna was nervous about going home for a variety of reasons. Not merely because Wakka and Lulu would question Cloud and his reasons for becoming her guardian -Wakka might even count that as a point in Cloud's favor- but because her village would gossip at his appearance. They'd compare him to Tidus. They'd say he was AlBhed. They'd question why he was becoming a guardian when Sin wasn't around anymore. They wouldn't see him as Cloud for a long time and time was something neither Yuna nor Cloud really had. The Old One wasn't a pressing threat but the idea that the Zanar Spheres might fall into someone else's hands was.

Belias wasn't exactly forthcoming about his history, but when she had silently asked him if he knew about the Old One, he had. Not much but he could remember his father telling him about it before the Fayth. A terrible danger that had driven Lohgrif to take the plunge at his father's urging and become the unstoppable Belias.

Mateus had calmed him before he summoned himself into the world. Lohgrif had been a sweet man and what Zanar had done was cruel. Little Lohgrif would never become king or a general or anything other than a prince in the palace. His mind had never grown past that of a child. Though Mateus' explanation was vague and relied more on hazy memories, Yuna knew that Zanar had played on the dreams of his disabled son to make a weapon. Played upon his dreams and then cast him away into obscurity.

"All ashore!" The sailor called out as the Winno lowered it's ramp. There weren't a great many travelers but just enough were coming and going that Yuna could pretend they were somewhere else. Almost.

"Time to meet the folks," Cloud took the first step down the ramp. He was still shirtless but the way his harness crossed his chest seemed to make him just a little more scandalous.

"Wakka's over there with the blitz team," Yuna pointed out. "When we stop by Luca you can watch a match or two."

"We'll see. Did you want to go say hello to him first?"

"He'd get his feelings hurt if we didn't." She walked over tot he Aurochs and smiled when she saw Vidina playing with them. Even though he was just sort of toddling around with a blitzball each player was very careful to pass gently or catch his clumsy passes. With any luck he'd be a very good blitzer. Wakka did of course see her coming before any of the others and his arms folded across his chest as soon as he saw Cloud beside her.

"You gone for almost four months and start bringin' home strays?" Wakka questioned her. "Got a type, I'll say that much."

"Wakka, this is Cloud. We met in Zanarkand and just started adventuring together."

"Paying our respects," Cloud offered his hand to the other man. "My son and I owe a lot to Yuna."

Wakka almost let the offered hand stay there too long but he took it and she watched them shake.

"Where's the boy now?" Wakka peered behind them.

"Denzel is in Kilka."

"He and Pacce got along almost as soon as they met," Yuna picked up. "They're helping Dona out around the house and the island before the baby comes."

"How'd they meet Dona? Or Issaru?" Wakka frowned.

"We were having a reunion," Yuna smiled. "Looking back on everything and how far we've come. Cloud just kind of showed up."

"She rescued me," Cloud told Wakka. The tone of his voice was almost reluctant, slightly embarrassed, and even though she knew none of the inflection was true she was very thankful for it. "Pyreflies."

"Ah, they'll get ya," Wakka nodded. "So what then? You meet him and bring him straight home?"

"We've actually been together for a few months now," Yuna looked down at the sand while Wakka shouted in surprise. "Is Lulu in? I'd rather get it all out at once."

"Yeah, she's at home, but so is Tidus."

"It's not his home," Yuna frowned.

"He's at the Auroch's place. Lu won't let him near yours, and the monk at the temple won't let him into the sanctuary or library." Wakka looked Cloud over before glancing along the rough path that would lead to the village. "He showed up after the rumors about you and Cloud started. Gotta say, I was wondering if you two made up. Way he's actin' though..."

Yuna sighed and wondered if she could run back to Kilika or the Thunder Plains and crawl back into bed. Threats to peace, giant fiends, civil wars, those were things she knew how to face and come out on top. Interpersonal relationships weren't something she was very familiar with at all. Tidus had once made her feel alive when she'd known only death. Then she met Cloud. Beyond the excitement of a new person there was something a little bit extra. Something electric when he swore his oath to her and fitting when they fought side by side.

"We still need to get back to the studio before Rin calls us," Cloud looked over at her with a vague smile.

"One last song," Yuna shook her head.

"You been helpin' her in the studio?" Wakka asked. During her musings he'd scooped Vidina up to walk with them.

"Apparently I have an ear for music and an understanding of Yuna's style."

"You do!" Yuna gave him a gentle push. Not that she needed to be gentle with him at all, he only gave way to her because he felt like it. "He's really good."

~!~

First Tidus and then Cloud. Nah. First Fidelius, then Tidus, then Cloud. She certainly had a type though. Fidelius was that same kind of blonde rebel Tidus had been though a bit more dedicated to his teachings. Tidus had the full blown untamable bad boy. So far, Cloud seemed like a mix of the two. Calmer though. Wiser and more aware of his surroundings as he kept half an eye on Yuna; Wakka had never met anyone so relaxed and vigilant outside of Ser Auron himself. Even through all that Cloud kept talking to Wakka. Answering questions or giving a hidden smile whenever Yuna said or did something. Especially when they talked about the Thunder Plains.

"So what, you just gonna follow her around now?" Wakka asked.

"I am her Guardian," Cloud shrugged.

Wakka stopped walking entirely as Cloud continued and Yuna cooed at Vidina. Sin wasn't even around and this guy was talkin' about taking up a useless mantle.

"Hold up, you're her guardian?" Wakka jogged to catch up.

"She asked, I said yes."

"He's almost as bad as I am about finding treasure and getting into trouble," Yuna laughed as the toddler patted her mouth. "Stop that."

"It's fun. Exploring old tombs, forgotten cities, out of the way villages and hunter camps."

"Eh, you two are going to give me grey hair," Wakka shook his head.

Despite being a complete stranger and looking a lot like Fidelius and Tidus, Cloud made Yuna smile in a way the others didn't. Wakka would give him a chance. Just one.

Wakka would give him a medal. Tidus had come out of the Aurochs' tent and started fighting with Yuna almost as soon as they got to the village. Wakka had always known Yuna could be a little vicious when it came down to it. She wasn't some weak willed thing and she was smart enough to keep her head in any fight. That's why cloud and Wakka didn't get involved in the fight. Not until Tidus came for Cloud. All it had taken was one shove from Tidus and suddenly the kid was on the ground while Cloud shook his hand out.

"Eh, Tidus, let's get back to the tent, ya? You're too fired up to talk and I can't have one of my players beat before the game."

"I'm not done," Tidus pushed himself up off the ground.

"I'm not the person you broke up with," Cloud shook his head. "Anything you have against me, isn't why you're angry."

"I can tell who I'm angry with," Tidus tried to shove past Wakka.

"So you know you're pissed off at yourself. Good." Cloud had stepped in front of Yuna as he spoke and for that Wakka was just a little bit impressed. Giving her a chance to calm down while Tidus got worked up and the village started gathering to watch. "I didn't decide to slip my-"

"Cloud!"

"-into someone else because my girlfriend wasn't around. That was all you."

"Maybe I wanted something more!" Tidus shouted over Wakka's shoulder. Were they really doing this in the middle of the village? Wakka wasn't going to deal with this anymore. Cloud wanted to punch the kid again, it was all his.

"Then go find it," Cloud cut him short.

Wakka heard more than saw Cloud and Yuna head over to his place. He heard Lulu's dulcet tones as she took the baby from Yuna and asked if she was alright.

"Tidus, you lost your mind? Bringin' that up in the middle of the village and picking a fight with someone you don't even know." Wakka backed away from his friend just a bit. "Come on brudda. You know you two weren't meant to last, ya? How many times you go to one of her concerts? How often she come to your games?"

"I just, we could have been great!"

"And you were. But we all gotta grow up sometime. She's different from that first time, you're different from that first time. Don't you have that gal back in Luca? Marphie ain't gonna wait on you forever."

"I just...I made her a promise, you know?"

"You tried just bein' her friend?" Wakka asked. "Because I gotta say, you're a terrible boyfriend."

Tidus leaned back and shook his head, mumbling something about needing a drink and time to think. Kid acted more and more like Ser Jecht every day. Like whatever Fayth had dreamed him up got the two confused and come up with something not quite either. Still, Wakka tried to help the kid find a place in Spira. Even if that place wasn't with Yuna or here on Besaid.

Once Tidus was back inside of the Auroch he turned to head back to Lulu and his son. Cloud was probably uncomfortable by now and Wakka really wanted to see the man squirm over something. Hadn't moved a muscle or been the least bit uncertain during the walk from the beach. Calm and collected and barely sweating in that black getup he wore.

"-figure out if there's a trade route between here and Picon that isn't by sea." Cloud had been talking to Lulu about the hunter camp up north. If the man was from up there, or even just spent some time up there after he lost his village, he probably wasn't going to be shaken by anything. "Of course the only viable option now is airship."

"Leather and fur isn't in high demand down south," Lulu reminded him from her seat. Cloud was sitting on the floor by Yuna's feet while the women sat on the few chairs in the living room.

"Good leather is always in demand, nobles always want fur coats, and Luca is always trying to get Miriam feathers." A hunter who knew what sold and to who. "I'm not sure how you can wear fur down here. It's too damn hot for me."

"When I met Cloud he had a lot more clothes on," Yuna laughed. Wakka looked at her with his brows raised and after a half second she blushed. She didn't clarify what she meant though and Wakka was left wishing he'd never heard her speak in the first place.

"It seemed easier," Cloud shrugged.

"I think I'd rather you kept your clothes on until you got back to your own hut," Lulu smirked. His wife was way too relaxed about this! Wakka was almost ready to shout. "We'll have dinner ready around sunset if you're able to join us."

"Yes ma'am," Cloud nodded to her before he hopped up. For such a serious lookin' guy he had some pretty silly habits. He offered his hand to Yuna to help her up and when it was waved off he picked up their bag instead. No frown marred his features and for all Wakka could tell he didn't seem upset by the dismissal at all.

"I'll make sure he washes his hands before we come over," Yuna smiled over her shoulder as they left.

"I'm not the dirty one."

Wakka shook his head in hopes in might erase what he'd just heard.

"I like him." Lulu was smilin at the door and one hand rest against her chin.

"Ya, so do I. That's what worries me."

"Because you like Tidus?"

"I liked Fidelius when I met him too. I don't wanna see it turn south."

~!~

Cloud liked Yuna's bungalow by the beach. It was small and comfortable and the breeze drifted in through the windows to help keep the heat at bay. All around were small trophies and items she'd collected throughout her travels, thick rugs covered the slated wood floor and even though she didn't have a second room or a loft like Dona, it didn't feel cramped. It felt like a space Yuna had made for herself.

"It's not very big," she admitted as she sat to pull her shoes off.

"Spira seems big enough," Cloud followed suit and toed his boots off by the door. He began to unhook his sword and paused at the sound of something beside the window. Yuna hadn't noticed it. "So, I've met your cousins, your uncle Rin, your best friend, your third ex, and now your first two guardians. Who's next?"

"You make it sound like I know everyone." Now that her boots were off and her socks unrolling he wondered if he should let the blanket over the door fall shut. He pulled his socks off and sat down on the stool instead. "How's your hand?"

"Already healed. You're still thinking about it."

"I can't help it. I thought everything was done. You and I were together and exploring for almost two months and I didn't get a single call so I thought maybe...maybe he'd finally moved on."

"Well, a lot of that time we didn't exactly have reception. And a few times you left your comm in the hotel room or at the bar." Cloud heard the shifting of a body by the window again and this time Yuna seemed to have heard something. He held his hand up when she shifted to go look out the window. "It's possible he tried to talk to you while we were in the studio or going over some new songs."

"Maybe. You seemed happy while we were there."

"Of course I was. You were there." Cloud felt the tips of his fingers begin to freeze over as Mateus gave him the knowledge of a light frost spell. Nothing too damaging but it was enough to make Yuna frown at him. "Working together to create something. We're partners."

"That's not what you said last night," Yuna shook her head. Now she was smiling and Cloud felt for the life sign of the man under their window. "I'm pretty sure you were praying to me for mercy."

As the man under the window began to rise and shout Cloud released the spell that had been waiting. The strange snowball filled his mouth and covered his face while Yuna put her hands on her hips and glared.

"You need a better hobby," Cloud stood from the stool and padded across the floor to the window. "I can smell the alcohol on your breath."

"Tidus, go to Luca. You have your own apartment there, the Aurochs have a full team, you can work freelance like you were before." Yuna still hadn't moved closer to the window and her face wasn't showing any sympathy. "Maybe you can meet someone new. What about the girl you were seeing the last time you were there?"

"Marphie's just a friend!" Tidus shouted as he tried to lean into the window. Cloud stopped him before much could push its way in. "Will you let me talk to her?"

"We've talked, I'm done talking. I'm done shouting and screaming and being patient with you. I want you to go. I'm living with Cloud now. He's my Primero Guard."

"He's..." Tidus leaned back and shook his head. "You barely know him and you just..."

"Go sober up," Cloud told him. "Sober up and stay that way until tomorrow. Then you and I can sit down and have a talk."

"Like I want to talk to you!"

Cloud frowned at the now empty window as Tidus ran off someplace. In a perfect world he'd be down by the docks and off to Luca. In a perfect world a lot of things would happen. He was mostly certain that he would be gone for a few hours at the very least. Yuna sat heavily on the bed with a heavy sigh and he wondered if maybe they shouldn't take off instead.

"He's banned from the temple," Cloud reminded her.

"I'm tempted."

"He's also somewhere by the beach if Mateus is any authority," Cloud moved to drop the blanket over the door. "The ice is tracking him or something."

"Long enough for a nap?"

"Long enough to prey on you."

"Pray...oh," Yuna opened an eye just enough to watch him as he made his way over. "You mean Prey."

Cloud was aware of Lulu and Wakka watching him as he called Denzel to see how things were going. Shinra had to go back to the Celsius but he and Pacce were getting along pretty well. Barthello was teaching him just enough about wielding a sword and he was able to practice whenever Dona didn't need him around the house. Denzel asked about Yuna and eventually just talked to her instead of Cloud; it was around this point that Lulu and Wakka really started to pay attention to who was on the other side.

"Just watch, one day I'll even be able to beat you," Denzel smiled into the sphere.

"I look forward to it," Cloud smiled. "Study hard and let me know when the cutting ceremony happens."

"You're Yuna's guest," Denzel shook his head. "She'll tell you."

He bade his son farewell and the sphere turned off. It was time to really sit and talk with both Wakka and Lulu. Tidus was down on the beach and dinner was nearly ready. A vague mask to the inquisition he was about to face inside of the hut of the village chief. Yuna was more nervous about what was going to happen than Cloud was but in all of his years Cloud had only once gone to the home of a girl he liked. It was Tifa and he was pretty sure it didn't count in the least.

"You gotta son?" Wakka asked as he came closer.

"Denzel and I were the only ones who made it out," Cloud told him. "He was barely seven when it all happened and I couldn't leave him to someone else."

"Sin made a lot of families," Wakka nodded. "C'mon, Lu's gonna get mad if we're late to dinner."

Yuna was far more nervous about this meeting than Cloud was. Not just because of Tidus and his reckless behavior and not Cloud's less than accurate life story. She was nervous because she'd reached a new point in Zanar's diary this afternoon. A part of his diary that matched up with a local Besaid legend in more than just lore.

"Are you alright?" Lulu asked as Yuna looked out the window. They were seated on cushions around a low table and Lulu's cooking was steaming in front of them.

"I'm just, it's silly but I can't stop thinking about the Shemhazai myth." Lulu did shake her head at it while Wakka let out an excited laugh. Cloud was perhaps the only one who frowned because he knew what it meant.

"Shemhazai was this guardian to a summoner way back when," Wakka leaned over to tell the story. His voice took on the serious and mysterious tone of any good ghost story while his stance changed just enough to make the shadows dance. "Best archer in the islands and a better guardian you couldn't find. Until one day while she was scouting, she stumbled across a rift between this world and the Farplane. See, she didn't know it, but the pyreflies coming out of da rift, they were hunting summoners to try and make Sin last forever. They told Shemhazai that they had a gift for the summoner and that she needed to bring him right away." Yuna jumped when the hard thunk thunk of fat raindrops began to fall against the roof. "So she brings him along thinking they have a staff or a spell. When they get to the rift, the summoner sees what's wrong but before he can so much as call out, the pyreflies turn into a Daeva and attack! Shemhazai threw herself in between her summoner and the fiend but she wasn't strong enough. The Daeva possesses her and thunk! No more summoner. Shemhazai feels so much guilt and hatred for Sin that when the daeva tries to leave her body, she absorbs him and turns into a half living fiend."

"It's said that she returns to Besaid every fifty years during the spring storms," Lulu continued the story. "Because of the guilt that plagues her over the murder of her own summoner, she searches the island for a new one."

"And if they don't wanna go with her, Thunk!" Wakka finished. "Just a story though, ya?"

"I heard it every Rest day growing up here," Yuna frowned at the both of them. "And then you guys would tell it again after the pilgrimage."

"Well you ain't really a summoner now, ya?" Wakka shrugged it off. "No reason to be afraid of some ghost story."

"We had one back in the village about a summoner who went dark," Cloud picked up. "Jenova was a beautiful woman, some even said she came from the heavens themselves she was so beautiful. Trouble was, she didn't become a summoner for any good reason. She started choosing only the most handsome guardians and throwing fancy parties. Everyone around was in love with her except for one guy. Every time she saw him she'd fly into a rage so she eventually set her guardians on him. One after another until she didn't have any more left. Finally she decides to go against this guy herself and when she finds him they fight for days. Neither giving in to the other. Finally he wins and as Jenova falls she realizes it's her own son."

"Those with power use it," Lulu sighed. "I suppose she comes around to try and defeat him over and over again?"

"Worse, she becomes an unsent and when the moon gets big and round, she comes looking for him. If she gets into your house and sees a little blonde kid, she attacks and takes him up to her old palace on the mountain." Cloud gave a little smirk and Yuna saw the victory against the she-beast inside of it. "Never to be seen again."

"Extra scary for a kid like you then," Wakka chuckled. "Ah, I'll have to remember that one for Vidina one day."

"Denzel's better at telling it than I am," Cloud leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "He used to terrify Marlene all the time."

"Sister?" Wakka asked.

"Sort of. We'd lost a few people by the time we lost everything." Cloud shrugged it off and took a si of his tea. "She's probably running around and making flower crowns in the Farplane with her dad now."

"Ah, maybe she's with Chappu," Wakka nodded. "Then again, might be she's just waiting for rebirth."

Yuna had worried that the conversation would take a turn south but between the two men it became rather cheerful. Not that either man was especially good at making a cheerful conversation. Wakka was a serious man in his own way, devout to the code he'd built for himself after Yevon fell and dedicated to the laws of Besaid. He'd travel the island to the smaller villages and see to complaints that had been sphered over. Shinra's invention was changing the way the world worked and Wakka was using it to keep the peace on their island. Right now he was telling Cloud about a dispute on the eastern side of the island across Hera's Fall.

"Course once that gets settled it'll be something else."

"Wakka, has anyone tried Hera's fall recently?"

"You still on about that ghost story?" Wakka asked.

"Cloud wanted to see the island. Why not show him?"

"Hera was the summoner I'm guessing?"

"Nah, it's a name from way back before Sin. Always been Hera's fall."

"No one knows who Hera was or how they fell," Lulu began to collect their empty plates. "There's nothing spectacular about the place, no wide chasm or endless waterfall. It is the lowest point on the island, deeper into the earth than the sea goes."

"And down at the bottom there's a bunch of rocks that coulda been a temple," Wakka nodded. "Or maybe some other thing they built before Sin."

Regardless of Shemhazai or Ancients she and Cloud were going to go down to Hera's fall in the morning. After he spoke with Tidus. What was he thinking?


	6. Chapter 6

Cloud was more than happy to never wear a shirt for the rest of his days on Besaid. He was getting a bit of a sunburn, and he was pretty sure there were going to be some really strange looking tan lines, but between the breeze, the sun, and the rain it seemed silly to bother wearing a shirt. He wasn't going to swap his pants out for shorts though.

The mako running through his veins had warded off the early morning chill as he waited for Tidus to meet him. He wasn't hidden away or looming in front of the Aurochs tent nor was he guarding Yuna's hut. He was waiting patiently for Tidus on the steps of the temple; the fact that Yuna was inside looking through the records may have had something to do with the location. He'd been waiting for Tidus for almost an hour now, his sword resting on the marble steps beside him while Mateus hovered at the edge of his mind. The athlete had shown himself a few times already. Coming out of the tent and glancing around before heading over to Wakka's tent. When he exited he looked around again and caught Cloud's eye. The younger man had frowned and gone back into the Auroch's bright blue tent and so far he hadn't come back out.

Cloud was just beginning to sweat in the shade of the great temple when Tidus came out from the tent and began towards him. He looked sober. He looked clean too. The one thing that hadn't left him was the frown at seeing Cloud.

Cloud didn't speak as Tidus sat upon the steps beside him. He didn't do much else beside give him the slight nod of acknowledgment and continue looking up into the sky. Had any sky ever been so blue? Costa hadn't escaped the ravages of ShinRa, Cosmo Canyon hadn't had such a clear sky, nothing seemed this colorful in time past.

"So, you're from up north?" Tidus asked.

"Spent some time in Picon after Denzel and I lost our home. Met Yuna up in Zanarkand while we were trying to figure things out."

"I heard you guys went to the Thunder Plains," Tidus leaned forward on his elbows.

"Recording at the studio. Denzel was learning to cook traditional AlBhed."

They fell silent once more and Cloud was careful not to focus too much on Tidus. He could only just hear Yuna by the doorway of the temple and after a few moments she seemed ready to go back to the library within.

"She's talented," Tidus spoke up and Yuna's quiet retreat halted. "Really talented. I think if Sin hadn't been around she might have become famous for her voice a long time ago. Toured the world on her own, done everything she'd ever wanted. Sin and Yu Yevon took that away from her."

"I learned a long time ago that I can't do anything about the past or the men who decided how things would happen." If Sephiroth hadn't fallen into madness they might have been connected by more than just a company. If Hojo hadn't...if Hojo hadn't existed then their lives would have been far different.

"I do love her."

"It's not always enough. Love can only get you so far. Dedication can only do so much."

"So you've got both?" Tidus asked. It wasn't a demand or a sneer but an honest to goddess question.

"We'll find out. Might turn out to be ex-boy toy number four." Cloud decided that telling Tidus there was a chance of his own misery was the better plan. To admit he'd felt an otherworldly rush as he'd sworn his blade and his soul to her service would sound insane. If he told Tidus about the bond he shared with Yuna through Mateus and the electricity in his veins as they made love it would start a new fight.

"We should make a club," Tidus hung his head with a sigh. "Less Than Evil Exes: No Seymour's allowed."

"I'll get back to you on that," Cloud pushed himself to stand. He extended his hand to Tidus and waited for the athlete to take it. He didn't have to wait too long before he was pulling the other man up. "Go have dinner with the girl in Luca. We're still her guardians and Bahamut knows we'll be called for something."

"You make it really hard to dislike you." Tidus scratched the back of his head and shifted from side to side. "You're a real dick, but you're honest. And damn if you aren't seriously cool."

"People keep saying that," Cloud shook his head.

"Boy Toy number four," Yuna giggled as she came to join Cloud on the steps. He had pulled his sword up from the earth and set it into the harness. They would begin for Hera's Fall next. "You're much more than just a number Cloud."

"Primero Guard number two?" he asked as they began for the path behind the temple. A path not often travelled by the residents of Besaid for the dangers posed by fiends and wild beasts. "What is the Primero Guard?"

"You're my first and only Primero. If we were on a pilgrimage to fight Sin, then you would have been the one to take the form of the final aeon." Yuna looked over at him and found him unbothered by the revelation. Before, she'd not even considered calling one of her guardians Primero. She hadn't wanted to destroy their lives or the futures they might have had. It had been Khimari who had stepped forward to become the final aeon as he had nothing to lose but even he hadn't taken the title. "The strongest of the guardians, the one without family and who has sworn utmost loyalty to their summoner."

"Nice to know where I stand if our murder-suicide pact ever needs to come into play."

She looked over to see him smiling at her with the little smirk that almost wasn't there. Had they been in a safer place she'd have linked hands with him and rest her head upon his shoulder. They weren't in a safer place; they were on the Sun Path that wrapped around Hera's Fall and through the Besaid Jungle. Instead of taking his hand she pulled her gun and fired upon the fiends waiting just on the edge of the shadows while Cloud released an ice spell on the ones behind her. After so many hours hiking through Picon, the Necropolis, and Lohgrif Isle, these fiends were easy to get rid of.

They were however numerous. It was for this reason so few took the Sun Path around the island. Sea travel was much easier and even though the fiends could be much more dangerous in the deeps there were far fewer of them. The Sun Path led to every village on the island and even detoured to villages that had long since vanished because of Sin.

"We'll reach Tseng before Hera's Fall," Yuna stepped over a fallen log. Cloud slowed behind her and she turned to see what was wrong.

"I knew Tseng. Everyone thought he died when the temple caved in."

"Legend has it Tseng village was erected to keep watch over Hera's Fall."

"Or it's there because a hero fell." Cloud shoved the fallen log out of the path before rejoining Yuna in their walk. "I can remember him trying to get me to join the Turks and drop out of Soldier. He wasn't the friendliest person but he was smart. After everything went down he still tried to get me to join up with them. I wouldn't have guessed he ended up back here though."

"Hero's Fall...It sounds more ominous that way."

Tseng wasn't as colorful or as large as Besaid village. Most of the homes were more like small cabins and painted in a variety of navy blue, stunning white, or deep shadowy grey. The villagers dressed similarly but more in the style Cloud was getting used to here in Spira. A thick wall of stone and wood surrounded the village to keep the many fiends at bay; after their very short and eventful journey Cloud could understand why it was there. Besaid's was always open and warriors always patrolled but here in the depths of the jungle, the small village of Tseng didn't have that option.

"We're coming through to see if they need any sendings," Yuna explained as she made her way towards one of the brighter homes. "Remy!"

Cloud had assumed the lump on the porch was just a pile of dirty clothes or rubbish but a head popped out and Cloud almost stumbled to see a face very much like Reno's looking at him. The tattoos were different in shape but still that bright mako green and his hair just as crimson and wild.

"Yuna," the man lifted a hand in greeting. "Coming through for a sending?"

"I was hoping there wouldn't be anyone to send."

"Well, you're lucky this week." Remy sat upright and gestured to a group of small children. "The three of them took out a fiend themselves this week. Little bugger got in past the walls but it didn't do a lot of harm."

"They seem a little bit young," Cloud crossed his arms in front of him.

"You don't survive this part of Besaid long without knowing how to swing a sword of fling a spell." The redhead continued to speak with Yuna about sendings and any healing they needed in the village. Cloud for his part considered what it meant to be Spiran. Pacce had been much better with a sword than Denzel despite being two years younger and the Al Bhed children from the Thunder Plains had known exactly how to defend themselves against smaller fiends. Despite being so much more alive, or perhaps because it was so much more alive, Spira had far more danger roaming around. Paine had told him something like that back on the ship. That Yuna and Issaru had both been trained from a young age to fight and win their battles.

"Cloud, are you ready?"

"Yeah." He broke from his thoughts and began to follow her back out of the gate leading them to Hera's Fall. "They mention anything about Shemhazai?"

"It's a taboo name in Tseng," Yuna shook her head. "Remy did mention that there was something odd about the fiends by the Fall."

"Things aren't going to get worse once the sun goes down, are they?"

"That's what's odd. He said the fiends have stopped attacking at night. The ones on the other side of the village, closer to Besaid, are still active but not these ones."

"I don't suppose Carbuncle can sense anything?" Cloud asked as they ventured into a darker part of the forest.

"He's focusing on our status," Yuna spoke softer than last time.

"Why are you whispering?" Cloud whispered in return. He had not been whispering when he began to speak but something was softening his voice.

"I think this is what he meant." If Cloud hadn't had mako enhancements he might not have heard her.

She raised a hand and he saw her mouth a word to no avail. His brow raised up and she mimed something that was probably fire. No magic from here on out. The forest was still making sounds around them. The breeze through the leaves above and the crunch of of their boots in the gravel and rotting vegetation was sharp and clear. Birds were chirping in the branches and in the distance Cloud could hear a river flowing. The sounds grew in volume as the sun began to set and the shadows grew longer and darker.

Cloud reached for Mateus in the back of his mind and felt the aeon's displeasure with their location. He had to agree. With Belias and Mateus they'd been able to use magic to help. Cloud was too used to simply casting; the very thought of using materia seemed strange to him now. Not that either method would do any good. He'd never mastered wordless casting and apparently Yuna hadn't either.

Yuna tugged on Cloud's sleeve as they came upon Hera's Fall. It was a large chasm in the jungle, filled with overgrown vines and countless broken pillars from times long gone. There was a time Yuna wouldn't have even looked upon it with anything but fear. A time when she saw it not as a forgotten temple but as a land cursed by man's own folly. Now she saw it as something else. Cloud saw something else when he looked down at it. She could see it in his eyes and the way his shoulders tensed. She would never really know what he felt about this place nor would she know what it was to be used by another for such a sinister purpose. Lenne had piggy backed a few times and each had felt like a violation of her own form. Even though it had been with the best intent she didn't have control over herself.

She reached over and took hold of Cloud's hand. His grip tightened for just a moment before he began forward.

This was the second trip they'd made in which they were unable to speak to one another. The first time it had always been an option but in this they'd fallen prey to a spell of silence so powerful that it stretched through the jungle. Remy had mentioned it was growing in power as well. Actions spoke louder than words, but words articulated what actions couldn't. They explained the action and clarified the pain, the love, the confusion. Without words there could be no proud declarations of love. There could be no thoughts shared with the world. The soul would remain tight and trapped inside of a shell and unable to find another it could cleave to. To silence someone was to control them and deny their very existence.

Cloud led them to where the entrance should have been and was greeted by smooth stone. The temple it had been was different than he'd described it. The pyramid he'd told her of seemed strange to her, it wasn't fallen in and ruined, but it wasn't fully erect either. It was chunky and dismal in comparison to the temples of Spira. He tapped her shoulder and gestured to the structure, implying it should be bigger and even more blocky than it was now. He also pointed to where a door was supposed to be and ran his hands over stone that was once the doorway.

Yuna set her hand against it hoping it might recognize a high summoner. It did not. It just sat there.

She saw Cloud's shoulder shake just little as he silently laughed at her. Maybe she was a little too used to temples opening because she said so.

She took his hand and began walking alongside the giant structure. Every tempe had a back door. To escape, to sneak in, to deliver taboos, to veil secrets. She was a summoner, a priestess, and a treasure hunter. She would find a way inside!

Cloud didn't seem quite as eager to hunt for a back door but he did follow behind her and he did attack the fiends that came for them. It wasn't until she the sun was dipping lower into the sky that they found anything at all. A small and worn staircase nearly blended into the temple walls and if not for the shadows drifting just so, Yuna wouldn't have seen them leading high along the temple's walls.

If Cloud's voice was able to make sound she would have heard him make an unhappy sort of grunt as she began to climb the ancient stone. She would have ignored it even if she had heard and continued climbing up said stairs. His heavier footfalls were just behind her so in the end it didn't matter if he was displeased by her headlong ascent into the tomb. It was a very long climb and twice Yuna and Cloud were forced to find an alternate path in the stone. The climb was even more dangerous once the sun set. Flying fiends and clever shadows slowed them down and caused both to slip many times until finally they reached a door. The steps continued upwards but Yuna and Cloud were both tired and preferred a quiet alcove to rest in before climbing higher in the depth of the night.

The alcove was more of a storage room. Smaller than Yuna's hut in the village but larger than the room they'd shared on Paine's ship.

"For Holy's sake," Cloud grumbled. Both of them started in surprise as they found their voices had returned.

"The temple must be resistant to whatever spell is creating the silence." Yuna was excited and nervous about the discovery. Until she looked over at Cloud and saw a look of frustration on his face. "You're upset."

He almost told her that he was fine.

"I'd like to know what the plan is before you start climbing into tombs," he frowned.

"How was I supposed to tell you that there's a back door in every temple?" Yuna crossed her arms and looked at him in frustrated confusion. She had a little bit of a point but damnit if this wasn't a trend he was starting to see. She didn't go boldly into the wilds without a plan, she just didn't happen to share said plan with him. If he was honest he was just fine following along after her but something Tidus and Wakka had said made him concerned.

"I was talking about the climb. I saw the steps, same as you, but it's a little tricky to try and be your backup when I can't predict what you're about to do." Cloud took a breath and focused on where she leaned against the wall. "I keep thinking about what your friends have said about you going off on your own and getting into trouble alone. That's how I lost Aerith."

She was quiet for a moment before she sat down on the dusty floor. He'd told her enough about Aerith, he'd told her about their journey and her murder but he'd glossed over the fact that she'd run off on her own without telling anyone her plan. He told her how she'd haunted him for ages, always coming into his dreams or stealing his mind away whenever he had a happy memory of her or Zach. He'd been recovering from their death, he'd been okay, but she kept talking to him and bringing it all back.

"I haven't exactly been traveling with others recently." Yuna didn't have the flowery and floating voice Aerith had. It was touched with steel and while it was melodious, it wasn't the sing songy tone the flower girl used. "It's always been easier for me to keep an eye on everyone else instead of letting them know when I need help. I guess, even when I was with others, I didn't communicate well."

"What about Paine and Rikku?"

"Paine usually took lead," Yuna admitted. "Rikku watched our backs and kept an eye out for traps."

"If you want to lead, that's fine," Cloud crouched down in front of her and took one of her hands in his. She'd been fidgeting while she explained it to him and he understood why she was acting why she was. It was the need to have control over one's own life. "We're partners now. I need to know where you're taking us. Even if it's just pointing."

"Partners," Yuna smiled. "I never actually had a partner before you." She pulled him until he was sitting beside her. "Alright. From now on, we go over our plans together."

"Think we should build a fire?" He looked over at her and knew with her eyes he was probably little more than a shape. "Or are you scared of the boogie woman?"

"I think I'm going to cast a mighty guard over the door so we have a heads up," She frowned at him. "And don't tease. It's a really scary story when you're five."

Cloud felt her magic spread across the narrow doorway and seal them in while he took stock of the alcove she'd found. It wasn't big, and it must have served as a hideaway for others before. Broken pots and the remains of a cookfire were present and a few worn and ancient blankets were on the ground. Silly as it was, he looked for any clues or signs that someone from his time had come here. An old and faded scrap of metal or maybe some graffiti, anything would have been nice. Something besides Vincent and his absent memory. His friend was not the same and might never be after so many centuries alone.

A small glimmer in the back of the cave showed him that little sign he'd hoped for and broke a small part of him. He was certain Vincent would retreat as well once he saw the item. It didn't exactly mean she'd come through or that she'd even parted with it willingly but Tifa wasn't the kind of person who left her materia laying around. Phoenix wasn't exactly a common materia, nor was it rare, but something about this small and dimly glowing gemstone told him it belonged to his childhood friend.

"What is it?" Yuna leaned over his shoulder to look.

"It's materia. It shouldn't be around but it is." Very carefully he picked it up and felt the warmth and vague recognition coming from the being inside. "It's a summoning materia that belonged to my friend. I could never make the damn thing work for me."

"An aeon?" Yuna asked. She didn't reach for it but she did come around to take a closer look. "Belias doesn't know what it is."

"It's Phoenix. This one belonged to Tifa." He turned the sphere over looking for the small scratch she'd made a long time ago. It wasn't supposed to happen, Materia didn't scratch or get banged up or even allow engraving but this one had let Tifa etch her name into the solidified lifestream. "See?"

"I've never seen letters like those," Yuna admitted. "Mateus doesn't feel anything near so we should be able to light a fire. Will Phoenix..."

"I think it's staying inside of it's materia. Waiting for Tifa."

"It might have to wait with Vincent," Yuna frowned.

~!~

The materia Cloud had found the night before was in his pocket. She'd seen him slip the warm sphere inside as they prepared to set out and head further up the temple's hidden stairway. It was almost upsetting that he'd had such an easy time with his former lover. Then again, Cloud and Tifa had more than a single journey in their history. The two had grown up together and witnessed the destruction of their hometown, their dreams, and they'd tried to make something at the end. They'd been wise enough to see it for what it was too.

The climb to the top of the temple was much easier than addressing relationships and almost simple compared to their trek up to the first half. Fewer fiends had shown themselves, slightly stronger than usual, but the dreadfully cold wind seemed to be the biggest bother of all. The shrine atop the giant structure didn't lead them further inside but it did seem rather elaborate. Even after centuries of weather and wear and Sin it was almost decadent to look upon. Some of the inlay and gold had been worn away, some of the jewels snatched by daring locals or tourists, but in all it was something better suited to the grand temple of Bevelle than the deep jungles. Except it was too wild for Bevelle. It belonged in the jungle with it's deep green jade and rainbow of copper and bronze. The carmine and ochre of old paints on the roof depicted a faded scene of worship carried out by men and women, youths and elders, and it was all so raw and primal that Yuna knew Bevelle wouldn't, couldn't accept it as part of their world.

"This is something you can't find in a city," Cloud stood at the edge of the shrine looking out across the jungle. He blinked for a second at the sound of his voice before stepping back down onto the steps. He couldn't speak this time. "The view in a city is all grey and damp," he continued when he came back into the shrine.

"Tidus pushed for the apartment in Luca. Rin mentioned it would be a good investment for me." Yuna leaned against the alter and watched her guardian wander around. "I never liked the smell of the docks, and the blitzball stadium was too loud, so I found a place near Lord Lucas on the edge of the city."

"I actually used to own this big villa by the ocean before." Cloud had stopped wandering and came to rest beside her. "Tifa loved it because it was really close to everything. That's why she moved to Edge after everything went down. She liked being in the center of everything. Watching everything grow and change. I know it was important for Denzel and Marlene to go to school, nothing in the country could compare to the schools in Edge."

"I had a more rustic and religious education," Yuna smiled.

"I dropped out at fifteen and joined the army," Cloud gave her a crooked grin.

"We'll make sure Denzel learns everything he can. We don't have big schools for the public, most things are taught by parents or an elder or Yevon."

"You're doing a great job," Cloud leaned over to kiss her. "Besides, he's kind of a wanderer like us."

"I think Rook wanted to keep him," Yuna smiled against his skin.

"It's Dona's turn." He kissed her once more, quickly before pushing himself off of the alter and turning to inspect it. "It's written in a language I know but it's too faded to read clearly."

"The ceiling is showing some sort of funeral procession," Yuna pointed up. "A queen?"

She saw his face change when he looked up and her heart almost broke. Every time they came across a piece of his past it meant heartbreak or hope. Vincent had been both. Yuna looked up with him and began reading the scene depicted there. An image of fire and a female figure in the center of it looking untouched and pure was collected in the next panel by weeping figures. There was a journey of the mourners and their charge through desert, jungle, and swamp until they came here and set the woman to rest. Yuna looked behind them at the shrine and frowned. This was going to be a bit trickier to figure out than Cloud and Denzel's tomb had been. It didn't look remotely the same and when she looked around the alter for a release there was none to be found.

"Maybe it's inside the temple," she suggested to Cloud.

"So we're back to the beginning and trying to get in."

"If it was easy to get into Hera's Fall would have more visitors." She paused. "You and your friends were supposed to be something we called if the world was in more danger than we could stop alone. When Rikku and Paine and I found and fought Vegnagun it was nearly impossible to find, much less access. We're trying to hide the Zanar spheres because of the danger and power they hold."

"You think Tifa's release is purposefully hard to find."

"I do. Aerilon Palace was a fluke. A game made up by a little prince who knew he wouldn't be around to tell his own children." Cloud was watching the tiles below them and she could see his brow only just furrow in thought. She was noticing these moments more and more. Yuna was longing for the moments in the studio as he sat in the booth with that furrowed brow and listened to her song. If Tifa was here and she didn't remember the split between herself and Cloud then it was possible Yuna would never see him make that face again. Not in the way she was used to. She saw him pull his guard up around others and give them a different version of his emotions.

He took her hand and lifted it to kiss her knuckles.

"When we finish here, we're going to head back to the studio, let Tifa and Vincent catch up at Aerilon, and then we're going to find a jungle and just live there."

"Until we get bored," Yuna smiled. She was worrying over nothing.

"Until we get bored," he agreed.

Cloud was concerned by the state of affairs right now. After a bit of poking and prodding and then resigning themselves to being more or less stuck on either the top or bottom of the temple, a crack had opened in the shrine. Except the essence spilling out was not right. It was the kind of magic that he'd come to identify with FAYTH. It made Mateus start forming a thin shell of ice on his skin and Belias was starting to give Yuna an aura of warmth. Even Carbuncle was reacting to whatever was inside of the shrine atop the temple. Cloud could feel his energy lift, his strength increase, and his senses grow sharper as his voice began to fade. The fayth within the coffin was casting a spell of silence as Carbuncle did all he could to bolster them.

"Shemhazai," Yuna whispered softly as she lifted her gun. It was the last word he heard her say before the silence spread across the forest.

The awakening was a slow one. An achingly slow process that had both Yuna and Cloud watching the alter, the stairway, the jungle. Any place that might give the aeon cover. Too often had they watched one thing only to be attacked from another side. It was a blessing and curse when they saw a strange limb lift and grasp the edge of the stone. Bright red chitin covered a grey skinned creature and what could have been a hand was strangely shaped with wings.

Cloud readied his sword and Yuna stood to the side and just behind him. That first movement had been so slow but the full awakening happened incredibly quick. She was much like the other Aeons in size and somewhat like the high priestess Mateus but the crimson chitin and paint on her skin was for a warrior who fought in the front lines, not for decoration. Wide dark eyes blinked at them slowly before turning gold and those strange hands that hand pulled her out morphed and turned into grotesque crossbows. He had no doubt of their ability as her overly long fingers created a line of silken twine between them and a barb of her armor lifted to be fired.

She was a ranged fighter and Cloud had a chance. Yuna could take her down from the backlines if Cloud kept her occupied; in a battle of silence such a plan was near impossible to communicate and he hoped for the best when he shot forward to take Shemhazi's attention. He wasn't prepared for the aeon to kick him. One of her legs caught him in the chest and it was like being kicked by a mule. At least his closeness was forcing her to back away and move around while Yuna fired. He attempted to catch the next kick and though he held her for only a moment it was enough for Yuna to empty a clip into Shemhazai. This close he could see how right he was in his earlier comparison. She had hooves.

Cloud jumped when a figure in brown jolted past him and a bright sword glittered in his line of sight.

Yuna was no longer on the back lines and the sword she used looked a lot like Tidus'. Cloud caught one of the kicking legs with his blade while Yuna slashed at the opening left behind. They couldn't afford to keep trying to shoot Shemhazai and Cloud was really getting tired of not being able to talk to his summoner. Yuna attacked Shemhazai and the aeon changed tactics, firing at close range to drive them back. Cloud's sword came up and blocked a good deal of the barbs but one of them drove into his leg while another rammed itself into Yuna's shoulder. They didn't have time to use an item or the ability to cast.

He reached down to see if the barb would come loose and choked when he felt Shemhazai's heartbeat in it. Her heartbeat and the pain in his soul made his grip on his sword tighten and Yuna's hands came down over his to jerk the offensive thing from his flesh. He looked up at her and grimaced to see she still wore hers. The thing only sat under the skin of her shoulder and though it killed him Shemhazai was much more dedicated to that result than he was. As he reached up to pull the barb the rest of the way through Yuna's skin he braced himself for the pain he didn't feel. It only hurt if you tried to take it out yourself.

Hiding behind his great sword, Yuna gestured between them and down to the arrows before grabbing her blue blade once more.

He held his hand up to explain a plan but stopped to pull her closer and far from the assault Shemhazai loosed on them. This close he could feel the fever heat of Belias mending her shoulder and the hiss of Mateus' protection as said heat melted his frozen armor. A thick layer of ice was freezing over his wound to staunch the bleeding; neither he nor Yuna could summon the aeons but they were doing their best to help in what ways they could.

The hail of arrows stopped and Cloud gestured for Yuna to attack from one side while he came from the other. They had speed on their side and Shemhazai had a helluva blind spot.

The attack was a bit predictable and he was thankful to have an ally who had experience and strength on their side. Someone who was used to their opponent using tricks because she fought just as dirty as their foe. Shemhazai tried to step back only to find Cloud compensating while Yuna took that one step forward to attack her. This time they caught the archer between their blades. The first good hit they'd gotten since starting and Shemhazai was not pleased. She let a scream ripple through the forest, a warbling and alien sound that had once belonged to a woman that hadn't screamed out in centuries. The bolts came faster, her footsteps quickened and her kicks were stronger.

What he wouldn't give for a haste spell or just a good old fashioned poison spell.

Yuna had never been in such a troubling fight before. In every battle, even if her magic didn't do any damage, she could speak and heal and boost her companions. Not in this. She was tiring. Cloud was holding up fine with his enhancements and warrior nature but Yuna was not a physical fighter. She could fight when needed but not for long and this battle against Shemhazai was taking a long time. The aeon was faster than those she'd encountered throughout all her years as a summoner. It was almost like fighting Rikku or one of LeBlanc's goonettes if they were using a powerful haste spell and had their strength amped up. The only way to take Rikku out had been to go for her feet.

Yuna ducked behind Cloud and his blade to shift back into her gunner sphere and tried not to jump when she saw some new additions. That wasn't important. Making eye contact with Cloud, she gestured to her feet and lifted her gun. He didn't quite get it until Yuna ducked around his sword and fired at Shemhazai's hooves. The aeon stumbled once out of three shots but it was enough for Cloud to catch her and attack. Enough for Yuna to aim another bullet at Shemhazai's hands as the aeon attempted to catch itself. Just like taking down a thief or a spy. Yuna fired again and this time it was better. Shemhazai fell to the ground and as quickly as she could change spheres, the Aeon took a hit from both of their blades.

"enough." Her voice was hardly more than a whisper as the onslaught of the jungle's sound returned to them. "thatyouhave...conqueredme...despite...yourweakness...asummonerneverwas...strongenough."

"What do you know about the Old One?" Yuna asked her.

"hisgraceaskedfor...information. ifounditforhim." Shemhazai moved to sit upright and the carapace she wore shifted to reveal a very human face. A sheer veil covered what was left of her mouth and dark eyes watched them carefully. "ifiguredout...whathefeared. theOldOne...isashadow...ofpower. hisgrace...doesn'tshare."

"His grace is dead," Cloud frowned from where he stood beside Yuna. "We need to know what it is so we can stop it."

"theGolden. shorterthan...iexpected. can'tstopashadow...FAYTHserum...formyfailure...tofindakey."

"We've stopped a lot of things we weren't supposed to," Yuna knelt in front of Shemhazai. A spy for a mad king could be a terrible and wonderful thing. "Help us. Help us put you to rest, help us stop this being of darkness. Help our world continue to live and breathe."

"allwedo...isfight." Shemhazai leaned on one strange arm.

"Then fight beside us," Yuna frowned. "I've been afraid of you since I was a child. Show me there was a reason to fear you. Prove that you can't just be defeated by a depowered mage."

"clever. acleverwoman...andher...lover. Hashmal...wasmine. findhim...andiwill...answer."

~!~

"That's why I couldn't find her in the journal," Yuna spoke around her trail ration. Some kind of fruit and nut bar that was a lot better than anything Cloud had known during his days as a soldier. They were still sitting on top of the pyramid as the sun began to set and Cloud was alright with taking a rest after their victory. He'd healed his leg with a very strong Cura and was now enjoying the buzz of magic under his skin. Yuna was also glowing prettily from the heat of the jungle and magic. "Hashmal used to go by Fandaniel, he was responsible for all of the spies and one spy in particular was mentioned. Igeyorhm."

"So she gets sent to the vats because he doesn't like what she found out. Takes shooting the messenger a little too far."

"Well, a little more than that. Adremmelech had a bit of a crush on her and pushed for Hashmal to become an aeon so he could have her." Yuna frowned and shut the journal in an effort to push away some of the pain she felt. "Zanar seems to be laughing at his son's pain. He didn't know Iggy was already an aeon."

"So why here?" Cloud asked. "Out of all the places she could have been sent why here in the middle of the jungle?"

"Because the King of Spies is here with his court." Yuna looked up at the ceiling. "And the Maiden. I think Tifa was placed here first, then those chickens-"

"Turks," Cloud smiled at her disregard for the group.

"I think they might have gotten too close, or maybe they knew what was happening."

"We could ask Vincent," Cloud frowned. "It might take him a day or so, but I think he should be here when we find her."

"We still don't even know how to get in, waiting another day won't hurt." Yuna slipped the journal back into her bag and began to make sure there was enough space for them to camp out. "It feels strange, camping in the open like this."

"I have the feeling Belias won't let any fiends near you." Cloud leaned over and kissed her. The scent of flowers and warm skin was all around them with the multi layered scent of life. This was where the two of them belonged. In the wild.

"He let you get close," she teased. "Although, I think I like you a bit more than a fiend."

"Just a bit?"

"Kiss me again and I'll decide."

"I have to call Vincent first." He let his eyes drift shut as the weight of the pyramid descended on him once again. This place was such a terrible absorbent of emotions.

"Alright," Yuna leaned back from him to dig the commsphere out. "We should get a fire started if we're going to camp out here. It would probably give him a beacon to follow as well."

"Are you upset with me?" Cloud asked when she handed over the sphere.

"What?" The open confusion on her face made him relax just a bit. "Cloud, he's your friend and we might have found Tifa. Why would I be upset with you?"

"It's nothing." When she frowned at him he tried to turn away or speak again. The combination of two such opposite reactions resulted in a deep sigh and rubbing his eyes. "Tifa and Aerith, a few others, they tended to get upset whenever we were interrupted."

"We're sitting on top of a giant tomb. I don't think I could do more than a few victory kisses." Yuna took his hand in hers. "We need to bring Vincent here. He deserves to see her."

Cloud had always wondered if Vincent could fly as fast as an airship if pushed. It was close to dawn when he landed, the sound of flapping wings waking Cloud and his footsteps rousing Yuna a few moments later. Together the three of them watched the sun rise and broke their fast on the rations they'd purchased in Tseng. There were very few words exchanged and Cloud could feel Yuna trying not to be overtly affectionate as they went through their morning ritual. Cloud truly hoped Tifa might be able to bring Vincent out of his slump or at least back to the world. She'd done it once before. Although, a small part of his mind worried over the lingering guilt and darkness in his friend.

"We have one of two things waiting for us inside, bright lights, or complete darkness. Either way there's going to be fiends." Cloud hefted his sword onto his back. "I have a feeling that coffin leads all the way down into the temple."

"Belias can give us some light. Most temples have lamps, and an Aeon's flame doesn't need fuel the way a regular fire does." Yuna had her guns ready to go and was looking down into the crack of space Shemhazai's crypt gave.

"And if the lamps are damaged?" Vincent asked. His voice was less rough now than it had been last week when they snapped him out of his demonic form. Less rough but still so far from the smooth tones he'd held before.

"If the lamps are damaged, then he light a path for us along the walls." She smiled at him. "He's been curious to see what Shemhazai guards. He was never allowed to talk to her."

"One thing ShinRa never did," Cloud began to push on the massive stone lid. "Experiment on the handicapped."

"Indeed." Vincent stepped up to help while Yuna kept her gun trained on anything that might fly out. "I assume I will have to fly you two down."

"Most likely," Cloud grunted as the lid finally fell to the ground. It left cracks in the tiles surrounding to alter, made from something far heavier and denser than the rest. Locking whatever was within away from the rest of the world. He cast a fire spell down inside and was pleasantly surprised to see the floor wasn't too far down. Maybe about twenty or thirty feet. The glow it cast inside of the temple was mellow and soft and no sign of life or pyrefly moved inside of the room beneath them.

"Shall we?" Vincent offered his hand to Yuna before wrapping his arm around her waist. He didn't make the same off to Cloud but he was used to travel by cloak. It was familiar but changed over the centuries.

"Alright Belias," Yuna's voice was soft inside of the darkness. "Let's make it a little brighter in here."

Several sparks shot out from between Yuna's hands before settling atop massive plinths and fragmenting into yet more sparks that flew even further down. What Cloud had thought to be a room was merely the topmost platform and every spark that fell burned a brighter and brighter flame. Finally they fell no more. At least twenty floors down they'd stopped.

"So deep in the earth," Vincent spoke as he began to head down the stairs.

The building they walked through was at one point a very beautiful place. It was still a tomb. The story Yuna had spied above was told in further detail down here. A story of one large group worshipping effigies of Cloud and his friends before breaking into factions and fighting with one another. The story was told in such strange detail beneath their feet with every platform revealing another chapter and another kidnapping.

"Do you remember telling me of the strange fights that occurred within Tifa's bar?" Vincent asked as they read the image of one large mosaic. "Just before the fires there was a string of odd events."

"I guess neither of us figured them out in time," Cloud moved across the mosaic carefully. Yuna had a sphere out to record the moment. To take still images of the mosaic to reference later so they could piece together who had taken his life from him. "She's waiting for us."

"And Phoenix is waiting for her," Yuna spoke before Vincent could respond. "I can feel it, waiting to see her again."

"Her summon was always peculiar," Vincent almost chuckled. It would have been better to say his voice held a note of a laugh in it. "I wonder if the phoenix can weep..."

They needed to find Tifa alive. They simply had to. The look Vincent wore was not unlike the look she'd seen on Shuyin's face or that worn by Lord Zaon. A look of utter despair and pain that could easily turn to violence. Was it crueler for him to have met Cloud and been filled with the light of hope or worse to let him sit in the depths of the Necropolis wondering what had happened to his love? Yuna shook her head. She knew the answer to that because she had been in his place once. Refusing to accept that Tidus had merely been a dream or an echo of Shuyin. Except he was so much worse of now. Tidus was a mockup of memories of both men. An imprint of the experience people had with him. Tifa was not a memory. She was a living woman and she would be waiting for them down below.

"I think Shemhazai got pretty bored through the ages," Cloud frowned as they continued to walk through the barren temple. "Sitting down here all alone."

"Once we find Fandaniel she'll have a companion. I don't think her crystal is in here though. I have the feeling it's somewhere else on the temple. She was just guarding this place." Yuna was walking alongside him as both followed Vincent. "It's also possible something was keeping her here."

"This entire FAYTH project is beyond screwed up," Cloud scoffed as they came to the next platform. "What's it say Vincent?"

"She's dead."

The man in red was kneeling before a mosaic of a maiden surrounded by flames and an arrow through her heart. Yuna had seen an arrow like that in Zanar's palace as part of the family crest. The cult dedicated to Cloud had slain his best friend and Vincent's heart.

"No. That's impossible, an aeon doesn't react the way Phoenix is if their summoner has died." Yuna moved closer tot he man in red only to be pulled back by Cloud. Something dark was rising around Vincent as he began to change into the demon he'd been before. "Aeon's don't respond if-"

"Phoenix is no aeon," Vincent growled as he became the demon. "Aeon's are mortal creations. The Phoenix is undying." He walked to the edge of the platform and dove down to the depths where Tifa's body lay.

"We should hurry," Cloud started running for the stairs.

Yuna quickly took a picture of the tiled floor before smiling and running down to join them. They were so single minded sometimes. In all of their haste, they'd missed the Phoenix being born. The next floor too showed Tifa's heart as a phoenix and even if Cloud missed it, the materia was glowing in his pocket. It didn't matter if it was a manmade Aeon, an Aeon born of faith and belief, or one born from the undying spirit of the Lifestream, they never abandoned their chosen summoner. Phoenix knew she was alive, so she was alive.

Admitted. Yuna was unsure when she saw the crystal coffin at the deepest part of the temple. She was filled with pain and horror to see such an elaborately decorated skeleton resting within. Gold and gems, ancient decaying silks, and the strands of dark hair that strayed loose from beneath the headdress. At her heart was an empty socket just big enough to hold Phoenix.

"Cloud, let Vincent have her materia." Yuna set her hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle push. By the winds of the Farplane and the currents of the Lifestream she prayed she was correct. Her guardian pulled the materia from his pocket, finally seeing the brightness it glowed with for himself but he wouldn't dare let himself hope.

"To see your mistress one last time," Vincent growled as he held the bright gem in front of him. It was so small in his grasp. "Is that why you glow? Did the aeon Shemhazai steal you away from her?"

For a moment Yuna wondered if he might keep it to remember Tifa by. He slipped it into the pendant that rest on Tifa's heart and very slowly a trickle of flame began to course over her skeleton. When Cloud rushed forward it was only to have Vincent shove him backwards into Yuna. The faint image of feathers was fluttering in the flames and it was only that which forced Yuna's hand to stay on Cloud when he tried to rush forward again. An aeon's flames were not like any that was man made.

"My love, my life, all going up in flames." His demonic visage knelt before the rapidly growing fire. "I shall remain here. In this place where the last of my soul..."

The feathers were swirling up into the air, gathering into the shape of the phoenix as something else began to form at it's heart. The flames of Belias grew in radiance as Phoenix swelled and the shape within the flames grew. It wasn't just shape. It was a specific shape and even though Yuna had never met or even seen Tifa as anything other than a divine relic and corpse she knew that was who rest in the middle.

"An Aeon knows when it's Summoner lives," Yuna smiled. "You should be ready to catch her."

He was. When the flames turned into fantastic plumage, the phoenix allowed it's prize to enter Vincent's waiting arms. No longer was it something cold and dead but a woman, a bride wearing all the ornamentation of a queen. She was beautiful and watching as Vincent returned to the man he'd once been was making Yuna cry. Even Cloud held a look of supreme joy and gratefulness as he watched his best friend be reborn. Tifa's chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm, fair skin all but glowing with the flames of the undying raptor. Phoenix dismissed itself, returning to rest inside of Tifa's very being until she called it to her side again.

"We should get her into the sun," Vincent's voice was soft and revenant. "She should spend her first moments of birth in the light. Not here in this place."

"Go. We'll catch up," Cloud nodded.

Yuna was looking over the crystal coffin when he spoke up again.

"You knew."

"I suspected. Aeons can be very attached to their summoners. There's hundreds of faithful who've become incarnations of an Aeon after death. They bind themselves to a summoner out of shared faith and sometimes leave if they find the heart to waver." Yuna smiled at him. "The Aeon itself doesn't care about dedication to Yevon, faith in the mission, anything at all. Just the heart and soul of it's chosen."

"Phoenix chose Tifa," Cloud understood. "It won't let her die because It can't die."

"That's what I was hoping. Seems like I was right too." Yuna began to head up the stairs with a little more bounce in her step than before.

"Yuna. What did your Aeons do?"

"I don't know. I had to kill them."

"You're a terrible liar."

"They did a great many things, but in the end, all they wanted was to rest. So I used the strength they gave me to put them to rest."

~!~

Vincent left Tifa's side only very briefly to rescue Cloud and Yuna from the depths of the temple. He thanked every possible aspect that might be listening that the sun was still up when he brought Tifa up into the jungle air. His burning heart, his valkyrie was laying before him dressed as an angel and he still bearing the face and wings of a devil. Yuna had known. Cloud's chosen mate and love had done such wonders for this world and for Cloud. Saved it nearly three times over and pulled Cloud from the confines of his own guilt. She'd not only known Tifa would awaken but she'd found the temple of those that had stolen her. A perversion of everything it had been before.

"Do we have anymore rations?" Cloud asked as he and Yuna started to reset their camp.

"Of course," Yuna laughed and handed him something wrapped in a leaf. "I think we should go to Leonis again. There might be something about Hera's Fall up there."

"You want to find Shemhazai's crystal," the blonde sighed.

"I do. I want to see if there's anything about Fandaniel as well."

A driving force of Spira. Should she wish it, she could become the next of the Zanar Dynasty. It ran in her blood.

"But," Yuna put her arms on Cloud's shoulders. "I also want to see if those tan lines are as silly as I think they are."

Vincent felt his lips begin to curl. Yunalesca et Fabula would not become the next Dynast Queen of Spira any more than she would become the leader of Yevon. Yuna Strife did sound somewhat strange though. Cloud et Fabula sounded marginally better. Vincent looked down at the woman who's heartbeat began to speed up. In the end it always came down to what the heart wanted and the mind was willingly to surrender. A small sound came from Tifa's throat and her fingers were beginning to twitch as long lashes fluttered on her cheeks.

"Vincent?"

"You're alive," he breathed. One hand extended and a finger grazed her cheek. The sound of Yuna and Cloud coming closer was second to the sound of Tifa's heartbeat.

"What happened?" Even after so long she didn't wish to lay prone but to rise and fight. He helped her sit upright and watched the confusion on her face as she took in her surroundings.

"That is a very long story," Vincent told her. "Centuries long."

"Someone kidnapped us," Cloud finished speaking for Vincent. He was kneeling down in front of Tifa while Yuna stood slightly behind him. "Some cult or something. It's been about..."

"Two thousand years," Yuna nodded.

"You're joking," Tifa shook her head. "Where are we?"

"The island of Besaid at the Temple of Hera." Yuna moved to kneel beside Cloud and Vincent could feel the shift in Tifa's muscles to see them beside each other. "Once known as the temple of the Ancients."

"The people who kidnapped us rebuilt it," Cloud explained. "To hide you."

"Are you the one who found Cloud?" Tifa asked on the other female on the dias.

"Oh! Yes, My name is Yuna. I found him while...well, its a long story."

"And we are rapidly running out of time to see the end." The blonde was frowning and Vincent knew that the calm they'd felt was gone. There was a great deal more at stake now than there had been when they pulled him from the depths of despair.

Yuna took over the conversation for them both to explain to Tifa what he already knew. It was the new information they'd both discovered that made him frown. The Old One that Zanar had feared was nothing he could remember learning of over the centuries. Nor could he recall having heard of a date for it's coming. Perhaps it was some remnant of Jenova or some virus or fiend that had escaped both his notice and that of all others.

"I wondered if it was Omega at first, or maybe Chaos, but Zanar's journal says he spoke with it while traveling Spira." Cloud was frowning and Yuna was worrying her lip as she flipped through the pages. "Neither of them are just hanging around.

"Is there a way to contact the lifestream?" Tifa asked. Vincent watched her frown deepen as Yuna explained that as well. The Farplane prevented any burdened soul from entering the Lifestream to avoid exactly what had ruined their world so many times. "I see."

"That's why we're going back to Leonis," Yuna pushed herself to stand upright. "By the time Rikku gets here we'll have spent a week on Besaid."

"Buddy says she can't run away again without the people rioting," Cloud shook his head. "We'll have to catch a boat to Luca. And then walk to Leonis or try to talk a Peacekeeper vessel into taking us on board."

Tifa watched as Cloud and Yuna planned out their trip back to Leonis She'd never heard him talk so much to one person unless he was drunk or...or in love. They made a handsome couple and just seeing them talk and move around each other was surprising because Cloud rarely let anyone so close to him. Tifa turned to look at Vincent and blushed when she saw him watching her. She hadn't seen him in ages though she knew it had been so much longer for him. Oceans had risen and empires had fallen as he walked this planet alone and unknowing if any of his friends had survived.

"You've changed your clothes," Tifa smiled at him. "I like it."

His crimson cloak was much different now than it had been before. There was a strange swirling design in the fabric and his terrible golden claw had been replaced with something slightly more demonic though much smoother in it's design. No longer did he wear the leather body suit but a pair of leather pants and a much looser and equally decorated black shirt.

"I only wish to have been there before they'd changed yours," He looked away from her.

"Vincent, it's not your fault." The veritable treasure trove that dripped off of her clothing and skin made this situation all the more surreal but this, assuring Vincent that it wasn't his fault, was familiar.

"We found you long dead in the depths. You are clad in the shroud of your own funeral and I could not even see you at the end."

"Dead?" Tifa must have shouted because Cloud and Yuna both stopped to look at her. "What do you mean I was dead?"

"Only a little dead," Yuna hurried to explain. "Phoenix must have forged a bond with you because as soon as we returned him to your side, you returned to Vincent's. To ours."

"Two thousand years is more than a little dead," Tifa frowned at the well meaning young woman. She had hefted her pack onto her shoulders and Cloud was checking to make sure his own was well adjusted.

"She's right though. You're alive and Phoenix doesn't seem to want to let you go." Cloud fixed Vincent with a look that Tifa wasn't meant to see. "You and Vincent are going to scope out Luca and adjust to the new world."

"Unless you want to explore some of the other cities," Yuna argued. "We'll decide what we're doing once we get there. I think Lulu might have some clothes that fit you until then."

~!~

Cloud could feel the grit and dust on his skin and see where it had settled on Yuna's. Cloud hoped not. There had been enough of a commotion when they got back to the village this afternoon. Two days to get to the top of the temple and two days back was a lot of filth and strange visitors meant a lot of wagging tongues. When she'd changed back into her gunner sphere earlier he'd been a little surprised to see her shirt had changed completely from what it had been. It had sleeves now, billowing things tucked into yellow, elbow length, leather gauntlets and the strange black design was replaced by a panel of lace with an image of a wolf. It was still backless and the neckline was low enough to show her collar bone, but seeing his mark on her did something silly and primal to his brain.

"You sure the priests aren't going to lose their mind?" Cloud asked as Yuna unbuckled the harness. Yuna's hut had been given over to Tifa and Vincent was presumably watching over her from the roof while the two of them retreated to the temple.

"Summoner's right," She smiled and kissed him. "Speaking of which, you have a duty to fulfill tonight Ser Guardian."

"Hm, Is it going to be messy?" It was always exciting to touch her skin with his bare hands. This shirt was much easier to get off of her than the last one too. Even in the heat her skin prickled and she shivered when he pushed it off of her shoulders to join his harness.

"At first. Otherwise it wouldn't be a bath."

"Well, if my lady commands it."


End file.
